Integrating a Trauma-Informed Approach into Substance Use Disorder Treatment

Experiencing trauma — events such as parental divorce, living with a family member who is substance dependent, abuse, and neglect — strongly correlate to health-risk behaviors later in life, including substance use. With this understanding, many providers are seeking ways to acknowledge and address trauma as a hidden, underlying risk in patient’s lives. This webinar, cosponsored by the Center for Health Care Strategies and ACEs Connection, highlighted how two providers operating in vastly different settings have incorporated a trauma-informed approach to care into their day-to-day practices for treating substance use disorder, and how doing so has shaped the experiences of their patients and staff. Daniel Sumrok, MD, DFASAM, ABAM, ABPM, family physician and addiction specialist, who formerly led the University of Tennessee Health Science Center’s (UTHSC) College of Medicine’s Center for Addiction Science, discussed the challenges of treating substance use disorder in a rural setting and his approach to helping patients break the cycle of what he calls “ritualized, compulsive comfort-seeking.” Rosalind De Lisser, MS, FNP, PMHNP, is an associate clinical professor at University of California San Francisco (UCSF) and director of integrated behavioral health services at UCSF’s Women’s HIV Program. She discussed UCSF’s efforts to build a clinical model for individuals with HIV, substance use, and mental health disorders, and the importance of taking a trauma-informed approach for this population. Made possible by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, this webinar is a product of Advancing Trauma-Informed Care, a national initiative aimed at understanding how trauma-informed approaches can be practically implemented across the health care sector.