Counseling

Gender Differences and the Need for Specialized Treatment

A report entitled Women in Substance Abuse Treatment: Results from the Alcohol and Drug Services Study (ADSS), published by the DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration Office of Applied Studies, indicates that Gender is an important variable to consider in substance abuse treatment research. The proportion of females among substance abuse treatment clients has increased over the past decade, and female clients currently constitute about one third of the treatment population. Reports have shown that female substance abusers experience a number of barriers to receiving treatment, including child care responsibilities, stigmatization, and inability to pay for treatment. Female substance abusers are more vulnerable than male substance abusers to some of the physiological effects of substance use, and substance abuse among females is rooted more often in psychosocial problems and traumatic life events. These important gender differences suggest the need for specialized treatment programming for women.

Online Counseling Program Under Consideration

FSH is considering the feasibility of offering a counseling program online to benefit women who cannot attend regular counseling sessions. The program would not offer all the features of the regular program but permit women to participate in group interaction by an online forum and to learn about educational resources.
Each participants would have a unique password and would register for the program.
Women who are interested,who believe they have symptoms of drug or alchohol addiction, are invited to write D. Hackett to be placed on a mailing list.