Help a population in need
Addiction is a growing concern in the United States, and we’re facing a shortage of qualified addictions care providers to help confront this challenge. In fact, the Health Resources and Services Administration projects a deficit of 15% compared to the national need for addictions counselors, meaning thousands of crucial roles will go unfilled.
With your Transdisciplinary Addiction Professional (TransD) Graduate Certificate from Regis College, you can answer the call and help fill this vital need.
Overview
Stem a growing crisis
According to a 2023 report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, about 46 million Americans live with a substance abuse disorder. Whether it’s commonly available substances like alcohol and tobacco or illicit drugs like cocaine and fentanyl, people living with addictions issues are at risk and may need counseling or care.
Your TransD Certificate can prepare you to change lives and save lives through action, intervention, treatment, counseling, and care.
Overview
Humanize and destigmatize
Care is vital for people with addictions to recover and thrive. That’s why we designed our TransD program with human-centered, patient-focused principles. Each patient faces unique challenges and circumstances, and we want to be prepared to provide empathetic care on an individualized level.
This program can prepare you to inform and transform mental wellness and help destigmatize barriers to addictions treatment, recovery, and prevention.
Overview
Why choose Regis College?
- Study at a booming institution ranked among the top 25 fastest-growing colleges by The Business Journals.
- Complete your certificate in as few as 12 months with online coursework.
- Work to qualify for LADC I, LADC II, CARN, or CARN-AP certification.*
- Earn an education from an institution regionally accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education.
- See if you qualify for a 10%–15% tuition discount and application fee waiver.
* Students interested in using the TransD Certificate toward LADC (I or II) or CARN/CARN-AP will meet with a TransD advisor to review prior learning and field work to assess eligibility and a plan forward.
Make a difference
If you’re a health care professional looking to make a difference in addictions recovery and care, the Transdisciplinary Addiction Professional Graduate Certificate is the perfect next step to specialize your career.
Our program focuses on theories of addiction, assessment and diagnosis, and pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions to help you become an expert clinician and leader in addictions care. Learn how to assess, diagnose, and treat addictions disorders across the lifespan.
Certificate Details
Collaborative and engaging
Protections against and treatment for addictions are issues that affect communities, so we built our program to be community-focused and collaborative. Our program is grounded in the principles of transdisciplinary collaboration and community health, while also focusing on empathy toward the patient’s individual needs through person-centered care.
We also highlight methodologies that empower family members and other key members of a client’s support network to help during treatment and care.
Certificate Details
Vital skills for your career
Addictions concerns are on the rise. In fact, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the number of annual overdose deaths more than quintupled throughout the 21st century so far, jumping from about 20,000 in 1999 to more than 106,000 in 2021—including 80,000 opioid-involved deaths.
With such a growing challenge, it can benefit nursing and health care professionals in any discipline to have a foundation in addictions treatment, care, recovery, and prevention methodologies.
Certificate Details
Work toward certification
We designed our TransD certificate with professional outcomes in mind.
Depending on your background and professional experience, you may be able to apply your TransD coursework toward professional licensure like Licensed Alcohol and Drug Counselor (LADC) I or II, Certified Addiction Registered Nurse (CARN), or CARN – Advanced Practice (CARN-AP) licensure.
Meet with a TransD advisor to review prior learning and field work, and we’ll assess your eligibility and help you build your plan forward.
Care and treatment for those who need it most
The Transdisciplinary Addiction Professional Graduate Certificate curriculum is designed to help nursing and health care professionals build their foundation in addictions treatment, care, and recovery. This is a streamlined certificate that comprises just 15 credit hours (five courses) and can be completed in about 12 months.
Required core coursework includes two seminar-style courses that touch on theory, assessment, diagnosis, and treatment for patients of all ages. The program also includes your choice of three electives from the list below, which can help you tailor your knowledge toward your professional interests and desired outcomes.
CP/NU 680 Advanced Seminar for Addictions Professionals I
This is the first of two courses that focus on the knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed to care for individuals, groups, and families experiencing addiction. This course focuses on theoretical frameworks of addiction and related nursing theories as well as the assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of addiction disorders across the lifespan. Course content includes both pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions, health care systems and transdisciplinary competencies, cultural considerations, and the integration of common co-morbid psychiatric and medical conditions.
CP/NU 682 Advanced Seminar for Addictions Professionals II
This is the second of two courses where students will continue to develop the essential knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed to assess, diagnose, and treat individuals, groups, and families experiencing addiction. Students will continue to synthesize course content and apply concepts related to advanced practice addictions nursing direct care, leadership, and transdisciplinary roles.
Prerequisite: NU 680
CP/NU 624 Treating Addictions
This course provides an overview of counseling philosophy, theory, techniques, and professional/ethical standards that are most effective in counseling clients who have been diagnosed with an addictive or compulsive disorder. Current research about the most effective and practical theoretical counseling models that foster personal growth, healing, and change will be studied and critiqued from recovery-, multicultural-, and social justice-oriented frameworks. There will be an emphasis on the importance of comprehensive integrated treatment of individuals with co-occurring psychiatric and substance use disorders. Students will acquire knowledge about prevention strategies, relapse prevention strategies, treatment planning, and the importance of family therapy and self-help groups and how they relate to psychosocial rehabilitation treatment outcomes. Finally, this course will provide an overview of the role of psychopharmacology in mental health, with particular focus on medications typically prescribed to assist individuals with mental health, addiction, and dual-diagnosis experiences.
Note: This is a designated practicum course for Rhode Island licensure candidates.
CP/NU 650 Biology, Psychopharmacology, and Health Care Collaboration
Driven by a biopsychosocial framework, mental health counselors should understand the biological bases of emotion and behavior, collaborate with prescribers of medical and psychotropic drugs, advocate on behalf of their clients, and guide clients to advocate for their own care. Understanding the basic tenets of biological processes that drive and impact behavior allows students, as counselors-in-training, to consider the health and wellness of the whole person. Students will also familiarize themselves with commonly prescribed psychotropic drugs and examine the reciprocal relationships between health behaviors, medication adherence, mental health, and recovery from alcohol and drug addictions
CP/NU 684 Advanced Seminar for Addictions Professionals III
CP/NU 686 Addictions Advocacy and Social Justice
This course will focus on advocacy and social justice theory as it relates to addiction treatment and recovery support. Students will engage in a detailed exploration and deconstruction of the history and systems of addiction treatment, drug laws and related policies, and specific theoretical approaches when working with special populations within the addictions field, all within the context of social justice and advocacy theories. Participants will investigate client needs and will develop professional responses/interventions that reduce stigma, increase agency for people with substance use disorders, and support transdisciplinary collaboration.
CP/NU 688 Behavioral Addictions
This course provides an overview of the history, theory, and current research perspectives in the etiology, assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of behavioral/process addictions. Specific attention will be paid to examining the similarities and differences between chemical/substance addictions and behavioral/process addictions. As this course is intended to add to the preparation of the counselor-in-training for clinical work in a variety of settings, extensive experiential practice in both assessment and intervention will be included. In addition, this course includes special topics related to working with people struggling with behavioral/process addictions (i.e., ethical considerations, multicultural competency, LGBTQI issues, or special populations).
Here’s what you need to apply
Our TransD Certificate program is designed for nursing and health care professionals who currently hold a bachelor’s degree or higher. Here are the requirements for admission:
- Official transcripts
- Statement of Purpose
- Updated Resume
- 2 Letters of Recommendation
- Interview with Dr. Kevin T. Henze
About Regis College
For more than 95 years, Regis College has supported learners in their journey to realize their full potential, reach their personal and professional goals, and become forces of good in the world. It’s our mission to help empower people to challenge themselves as they prepare to serve and lead through education.
With our focus on student success and our commitment to social justice and service, we help students in the greater Boston area and around the globe achieve more and go further.
College Details
Diverse learning opportunities
Regis College is a coed university 12 miles west of Boston in Weston, Mass., founded by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Boston.
With more than 3,200 undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral students enrolled on campus and in fully online graduate programs, Regis provides an academically rigorous education within the schools of nursing, arts and sciences, business and communication, and health sciences.
College Details
Degrees built for impact
The School of Health Sciences at Regis helps today’s compassionate and empathetic learners channel their passion for service into impactful careers as tomorrow’s health care, wellness, and fitness leaders. Here, students who want to pursue meaningful work and make a true and lasting difference study topics like medical imaging, public health, social work, sport management, and occupational therapy.
College Details
Via Veritas Vita
Our motto, Via Veritas Vita, translates to “the way and the truth and the light.” These words drive our mission of empowering learners through knowledge to live meaningful lives and contribute to our global society.
Today, Regis boasts an alumni network more than 20,000 strong. This supportive, tight-knit community has a history of professional success in the job market: 97% of our graduates find full-time work or pursue further education within six months of graduation.
Kevin T. Henze
Dr. Henze serves as an assistant professor and the coordinator for our Transdisciplinary Addiction Professional Certificate. As a Certified Psychiatric Rehabilitation Practitioner (CPRP), his professional interests are focused on promotion of psychiatric and dual-diagnosis recovery competencies.
In addition to his role as an educator, Dr. Henze brings extensive knowledge and real-world experience into the classroom, having held a staff psychologist role at the Edith Nourse Rogers Memorial VA Hospital since 2008.