Products and Resources Catalog

Description: With increasing overdose rates, a more lethal drug supply, and more prescription medications in many homes, it’s important to educate a wider audience about harm reduction and what it means: essentially, reducing the negative consequences of potentially risky behaviors. This workshop will present different definitions of harm reduction, highlight how we all practice harm reduction in our lives, and explain how harm reduction strategies are implemented in different settings, including syringe service programs and psychotherapy. It will also address community concerns and hesitations about harm reduction, ways to reduce the harms of stigma surrounding drug use, and opportunities to build bridges between harm reduction and treatment for people with substance use disorders Goals: Increase participants’ understanding of harm reduction principles and strategies, address myths and misperceptions about harm reduction, and explore how harm reduction can be part of the continuum of care. Workshop Outline: Different ways of defining harm reduction (National Harm Reduction Coalition, SAMHSA, NIDA). Harm reduction principles. How we all practice harm reduction (including bike helmets, sunscreen, designated drivers). Harm reduction services provided by syringe service programs (SSPs), overdose prevention centers (OPCs) and mobile units in some communities. Who harm reduction services may not be reaching (different population groups). Harm reduction psychotherapy (key practitioners and principles, including embracing goals like reduced substance use). Hesitations about harm reduction (traditional objections, like it “enables” drug use, vs. newer concerns, e.g. it’s “not enough” for people with complex needs). Building bridges between harm reduction and treatment for people with substance use disorders. Reducing harm by addressing stigma (types of stigma, avoiding stigmatizing terms). Trainer Bio: Susan Stellin, MPH is a writer, educator, and public health consultant focusing on health-centered responses to substance use and addiction. Since earning a master's in public health at Columbia University, she has worked on projects about ways to reduce overdose deaths, reform punitive drug policies, and expand access to harm reduction, treatment, and recovery support. Recent clients include NYU Langone’s Health x Housing Lab, the Northeast & Caribbean Addiction Technology Transfer Center, the Opioid Response Network, the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, the Overdose Prevention Program at Vital Strategies, and the Vera Institute of Justice. She regularly leads training workshops for service providers working with people experiencing substance use, mental health, and housing challenges, and has also taught undergraduate courses about media ethics, collaborative storytelling, and the history of journalism.

  The Great Lakes Current is the e-newsletter of the Great Lakes ATTC, MHTTC, and PTTC.   The February 2024 issue features content from the Great Lakes ATTC celebrating Black History Month, including our upcoming 2024 Black History Month Panel Presentation. It also features a new educational brief on health equity in crisis systems, upcoming prevention trainings on drug trends in the region, and updates to the Classroom WISE curriculum for 2024. As always, you will also find links to all upcoming events and trainings hosted by the Great Lakes ATTC, MHTTC, and PTTC!   Make sure you're subscribed to our email contact list so you never miss a month of The Great Lakes Current newsletter, and thank you for reading!

  The Great Lakes Current is the e-newsletter of the Great Lakes ATTC, MHTTC, and PTTC.   The August 2023 issue honors International Overdose Awareness Day (August 31), opioid overdose prevention training on HealtheKnowledge, and the newest NIATx in New Places series blog post written by Lynn Madden, PhD, MPA.  And as always, you will find links to all upcoming events and trainings hosted by the Great Lakes ATTC, MHTTC, and PTTC!  

Learning that your elementary-aged child is thinking about self-harm or using language that signals suicide is frightening and disorienting. Thankfully, suicide is preventable and there are many things that parents and caregivers can do to help keep their children safe. This Brief, a complement to the more detailed resource, “Our Young Children & Suicide Prevention: A Resource for Parents and Caregivers” is designed to help parents and caregivers prevent suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STBs), recognize the warning signs of STBs, and, when necessary, intervene early and effectively to keep their children safe.   O’Malley, M., Marion, F., Palacio, J., & Gomez, J. (2023) Pacific Southwest Mental Health Technology Transfer Center (MHTTC).

  When children talk about death, communicate a wish to die, or hurt themselves—when they engage in suicidal thoughts and behaviors (“STBs”)—school adults may feel stunned and disoriented. Rates of reported STBs in children are rising (Burstein et al., 2019), elevating the need for up-to-date information meant to ensure educators are prepared to respond in the best possible way. This Brief, a complement to the more detailed resource, “Self-Harm and Suicide Awareness and Prevention in Childhood and Early Adolescence: A Resource for Elementary School Educators & School-Based Professionals,” is designed to provide elementary school personnel with critical knowledge and resources to help them recognize and assess the warning signs of STBs, and to respond in such a way that harm may be reduced, and children are kept safe.   O’Malley, M., Marion, F., Palacio, J., & Gomez, J. (2023) Pacific Southwest Mental Health Technology Transfer Center (MHTTC).

Learn more about innovative approaches to supporting better outcomes for those who provide care as well as those seeking and receiving behavioral health care in communities of color in New England!   Presenters--including clinicians, researchers, faith and community leaders, and people with lived expertise--will explore strategies for: Delivering culturally competent care Creating recovery-ready workplaces Integrating peer support in the workforce Building career ladders for existing staff and retaining early career staff Day three's theme was "Peer Recovery Workforce: Multiple Pathways." View a recording of this 2/15/23 session here.

Authors Kirill Staklo (he/him) and Nze Okoronta (they/them) provide an overview of the necessary information for the integration of Peer Specialists in hotline programming for equity and sustainability. Topics include: Intro to the Peer Role, Medical trauma and minority stress, Hotline work: How is it different?, Informed consent and harm reduction, Best practices in service establishment and training, and further resources.

About this Resource:  Perspectives in Mental Health Crisis is a four-part series examining the experiences of Certified Peer Specialists (CPS) as they navigate, utilize, and provide crisis services. In part 3 of this series, peer panelists discuss the factors that have contributed to the criminalization of mental health issues and identify strategies that can help communities to decriminalize mental illness, including diversion, co-responding, and forensic peer mentoring.  Click here to learn about and register for our upcoming sessions in this series. 

Recording of the Rock Recovery-led event Group Therapy for the Treatment of Eating Disorders and Body Image Issues, originally held on November 10, 2021.   Presentation slides.