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Thursday, April 10, 2014

2:00 to 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time

The Role of Self-Management in Using Medications

Featuring

Larry Davidson, Ph.D.

DSG Director, Recovery to Practice

Yvonne Z. Smith

President and Chairperson, The Recovery Group

Jackie Pettis

Manager of Wellness and Recovery, ValueOptions Maryland

Moderated by

Larry Davidson, Ph.D.

Description

This Webinar recognizes that, while medications can be very effective tools in promoting recovery, they alone are insufficient for many persons with serious or prolonged conditions. For these individuals, the medications we currently use do not “cure” serious mental illnesses and addictions. When effective, they may reduce symptoms and a person’s likelihood of relapse or improve quality of life. In serious mental illnesses, for example, medications may reduce some of the more flagrant symptoms such as hallucinations and acute mania, but do not address the negative symptoms and neurocognitive impairments that often are the more disabling aspects of these disorders.

In addictions treatment, medications may render certain substances less reinforcing or reduce cravings but make no impact on a person’s ability to develop new, sober social networks that will support his or her recovery. In this respect, we should avoid conveying the message to people that all they need to do is take the medications prescribed for them and everything will be all right. Recovery requires hard work on the part of both persons in recovery and practitioners, and with healthcare reform under way, practitioners will need to play an increasingly important part in educating people about their own role in their recovery and supporting them in efforts to manage their conditions and recover as fully as possible.

This Webinar will approach the topic of self-management and medication use from three perspectives: Larry Davidson, Ph.D., DSG director of the Recovery to Practice Initiative; Yvonne Z. Smith, president and chairperson of The Recovery Group; and Jackie Pettis, Manager of Wellness and Recovery at ValueOptions Maryland.

Participants are welcome to call in or submit questions and comments electronically. The Webinar will be recorded and available for download shortly after the event.

Sponsored by the Office of the Associate Director for Consumer Affairs in the

Center for Mental Health Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration