New Directions in Treatment, Education, and Outreach for Mental Health and Addiction

Thalia MacMillan is an assistant professor and mentor of community and human services in the Center for Distance Learning (CDL) at SUNY Empire State College.  She received her Ph.D. in social work from Fordham University, specializing in policy and research.  Prior to coming to SUNY, Thalia worked simultaneously in the professional and academic sectors.  For the past 18 years she has worked in the fields of evaluation, research, and practice.  Thalia has taught social research methods, program evaluation, social policy, addictions, mental health, disabilities, assessment and diagnosis, and statistical methods. She regularly develops and teaches in multiple modalities, including blended, online, face to face, and immersive cloud learning courses. In addition to volunteering research services to multiple local organizations, Thalia is a volunteer EMT in her community.  All of these experiences in the various sectors have heightened her interests in the addictionsfield.  Dr. Sisselman-Borgia is an Assistant Professor at Lehman College in the Department of Social Work, part of the City University of New York. Dr. Sisselman-Borgia has experience teaching across the social work curriculum and recently taught classes entitled, Family Violence and Trauma and Urban Homelessness for undergraduate and graduate social work students.  She regularly teaches Advanced Practice in the Urban Environment for MSW students in their final year of study.  Dr. Sisselman-Borgia studies the impact of discrimination on homeless youth and adults, trauma and at-risk youth and families, and the intersection between spirituality, religion, and domestic violence/family trauma.  Dr. Sisselman-Borgia’s clinical practice has focused mainly on at-risk youth and working with women and children who have experienced trauma.

• Diagnosis.- Evolution of addiction terminology.- Addiction and self-injury.- Comorbid trauma and addiction.- The relationship between attachment and addiction.- The portrait of addiction.-  Practice.- Origins of clinical practice.- Preventing substance abuse and addiction.-  Clinical and personal biases in treatment: impact on treatment and how to handle it.- Spirituality, resilience, and addiction.- The Three-legged Stool Model for Spiritual Interventions in the Treatment of Substance Use Disorders.- Models of integrated treatment.- Addiction in the community: the role of emergency services.- Comprehensive assessment of mental health, addiction, and physical health.- A case study of innovative practice.- The role of advocacy in the treatment process.- Education.- Creating programs for professional development and academic programs.- Developing a SBIRT curriculum in advanced practice.- Teaching students the importance of developing the therapeutic relationship.- Integrating previous knowledge and experience into the educational program.- Concluding remarks.