The U.S. is experiencing a growing crisis of substance misuse, dependence and overdose. We are actively bringing our trauma-informed approach to addressing the epidemic of substance use and studying its impact on recovery and healing. We believe most addiction is rooted in trauma and self-medication, and that effective solutions to addiction need to destigmatize substance misuse, create safe and trustworthy relationships where patients can feel comfortable revealing themselves, and partner with them to feel better and reach their own goals.
Our current work focuses in three areas:
- Innovating a trauma-informed response to stimulant use addiction in the black community;
- Developing an outpatient model of trauma-informed substance use treatment;
- Advocating for a trauma-informed approach to the California’s opiate overdose epidemic.
HERS+ — innovating care for black women with stimulant use addiction
HERS+ Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP). This program was developed through a Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Special Project of National Significance (SPNS) award to implement a trauma-informed IOP black women living with HIV. The overarching goal of this project is improving health outcomes throughout the HIV care continuum, reducing preventable illness and death, and improving quality of life for black women living with HIV. A formal evaluation of the program showed that it was effective at decreasing substance use and improving social support among participants. The success of the program led to the expansion of it to include both women with HIV and at risk for HIV.
HERS — developing a new outpatient model of substance use treatment
In October 2017, WHP received a five-year grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to develop an outpatient model of trauma-informed substance use treatment within primary care called Health, Empowerment, and Recovery Services (HERS) that focused on individual substance use counseling and case management, and medication assisted treatment (MAT) in a primary care setting. In September 2022, we received a second five-year SAMHSA grant to enhance and improve this model. The current model builds upon the initial individual substance use counseling and MAT to include an expanded IOP for women with HIV or at risk for HIV. Participants are referred from WHP as well as partner agencies and clinics around San Francisco. The program has been particularly helpful to women with young children who are involved in Child Protective Services system and is working to prevent and mitigate intergenerational trauma. We are continuing to refine this new outpatient model with the funding support of SAMHSA and University of California ACEs Aware Family Resilience Network (UCAAN).
Ti-MOUD — helping California reduce opiate overdoses
CTHC teamed up with leaders across California to reduce opiate overdoses. We are members of the Treatment Starts Here working group, where our focus is to bring a trauma-informed approach to the statewide response so patients can be healed through a trusting and safe relationship with their provider along with powerful biomedical tools. We are focusing specifically on the evolving field of Medications for Opioid Use Disorder (MOUD), where we have developed a new trauma-informed framework for the affectual and behavioral aspects of opioid use disorder (OUD) treatment. This framework is called trauma-informed medications for opiate use disorder (Ti-MOUD).
