Institute for Psychological Advancement

Proper diagnosing of clients that present for substance-related treatment is an ethical and mandatory requirement for clinicians.  Diagnostic labels, stigma related to substance use, how diagnosing relates to reimbursement, and the many diagnostic changes have been points of controversy and confusion for many in the diagnostic process.  Accurate diagnosing is not only ethical, but it can greatly assist in treatment planning and improve client outcomes.  The DSM-5 offers many tools to aid in the diagnostic process including severity ranges, specifiers, new diagnoses, revised diagnostic criteria, and descriptive features specific to each class of substance.  In this training, clinicians will learn to utilize these resources to accurately diagnose clients with substance-related disorders when appropriate.  

Facilitator:  Kathryn Brewer, PhD, LPC, LCPC

Dr. Brewer is a licensed professional counselor in Missouri and a licensed clinical professional counselor in Kansas.  She has earned a PhD in psychology, a Master's degree in professional mental health counseling, and a Master's certificate in healthcare leadership and management. Dr. Brewer is also a national certified counselor, certified clinical trauma professional, licensure supervisor for professional counselors in Missouri, and a board approved clinical supervisor for professional counselors in Kansas.

Learning Level: Basic

Target Audience: This course is designed for professional counselors, school counselors, social workers, marital and family therapists, psychologists, addiction counselors, case managers, nurses, and other health care professionals.

Continuing Education:  To obtain the certificate of completion for the 1.5 hours associated with this course, the participant will need to complete the online course and earn a passing score of 75% on the post-test.

Each course offered designates the number of clock hours.  Be sure to check with your professional board as they will specify how many CE/CEU hours are equal to one clock hour (e.g., 1 CE = 50 minutes, 1 CE = 60 minutes). 

This course is approved by the Missouri State Committee for Social Workers for 1.5 hours of continuing education.

Institute for Psychological Advancement has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider™, ACEP No. 7124. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. Institute for Psychological Advancement is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs. This course qualifies for 1.5 NBCC hours. 

The content of this course may meet requirements for continuing education for most national, state, and local licensing boards and professional organizations. Many boards and professional organizations will accept continuing education that is relevant to each profession (i.e., for professional counselors content must be primarily related to counseling, for psychologists content must be mostly psychological, and so on) and/or that has been approved by another professional association in the human services field.  Be sure to print the course description and submit with your certificate of completion to your professional board for consideration.  For rules governing continuing education and to confirm whether this course qualifies for continuing education, participants should contact their respective regulatory boards.  Participants may also contact IPA and we will do our best to answer your questions.

CEs by Profession and State (ipa-kc.com) 

Course Access:  You will have access to the course and materials for 120 days from the time of registration. Completion certificates are immediately available with a passing score of 75% on the post-test. 

Registration:  Registration for online courses is available on our website. For manual registration or payment by check, please contact IPA. 

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