CREA has been hosting a professional placement on drug abuse and chemical dependency for MPhil students of the DU Department of Clinical Psychology since 2004 with a view to narrow down the existing huge human resource gap in mental healthcare.

The aim of the placement is to enhance knowledge and clinical skills of the trainees in treatment and rehabilitation of chemical dependents. The trainees are required to go by the following objectives:

• Understanding the nature of chemical dependence
• Identify and apply functional techniques of managing urge/cravings for drug use
• Understanding different chemical dependency treatment approaches and receive training
• Application of different techniques and assess their efficacy
• Apply and evaluate the psychological tools for relapse prevention
• Involve family members in the treatment process and provide psychological support to them
• Adaptation of different psychotherapy models to work with the street-based injecting drug users
• Receiving counseling training on drug and HIV/AIDS-related risk behaviors to provide counseling to the targeted population and assess outcome

So far, 170 graduate students of the DU department have successfully completed this placement that includes extensive study, training and learning different intervention approaches regarding substance abuse and chemical dependency/drug addiction. A direct outcome of this specialized professional placement hosted by CREA is the clinical psychologists now working at different public and private healthcare facilities. Almost all of them have been trained under the program that also has resulted in a positive quality shift in service provision in substance abuse treatment and rehabilitation.