New Publication Available Spring 2022!

This textbook on substance abuse and addiction will be a powerful guide at the graduate and undergraduate level for counselor educators and other disciplines. The unique aspect of this work is the focus addressing specific issues related to substance abuse and addiction utilizing the most current trends and evidence-based practices.

The textbook includes interactive critical thinking questions, case vignettes, and strategies for counselors. It is designed to capture a passionate audience interested in…

The Structural Determinants of Drug Use: A Primer on Addiction provides an introductory overview of drug use, addiction, and treatment in America through the lenses of public health, medicine, anthropology, history, public policy, media, academia, and the arts. 

Upon completion, readers will gain the ability to apply a critical perspective on these issues in a variety of topics, including: 

• Social and structural risk factors that increase vulnerability to addiction
• The racial politics of drug panics and policing of populations…

Substance Use in Society: A Biopsychosocial Approach is current (completed at the end of 2024) and comprehensive in its discussion of substance use and presents complex concepts through case studies and real-world applications while being mindful of and sensitive to important differences across culture, race, gender, geography, and age.  The goal was to write a book…

Now Available!

Substance Use: Current Readings and Trends offers an essential, up-to-date exploration of substance use and misuse in the United States. With millions of Americans regularly using both licit and illicit psychoactive substances, this textbook presents a timely examination of key trends in drug use, including the rise of marijuana legalization, the ongoing opioid epidemic, and the resurgence of hallucinogens in therapeutic contexts. The book provides students with foundational knowledge of major drug categories – alcohol,…

The author, Michele M. Mahr, has a Ph.D. in Rehabilitation Psychology and combines her personal experiences with her role in academia in her life of research, substance abuse, and addiction. Students, health care practitioners, and professors will find this book valuable as a resource in a variety of settings. The author has focused on examining the societal and public stigma often related to substance abuse and addiction.

The contributors of this textbook discuss a wide array of evidence-based practices, treatment modalities, and provide strategies that can be implemented in…

There is no single factor that directly causes addiction. This textbook examines the biological, psychological, and sociological factors that contribute to substance use and addiction.

The behaviors that lead up to substance use, abuse, and dependence include a wide variety of biological, psychological, and sociological factors—just like any other complex behavior like engaging successfully in academics, sports, music, or theater. Nearly all human behavior has biological, psychological, and sociological factors driving it. 

So, to fully understand what drives people to do…

Abstract

This case study is based on data collected from in-depth interviews with people who have a substance-dependent family member. It tells the story of how one family deals with the onset and cycle of addiction as well as the recovery process of one member’s substance use disorder. Readers will examine how communication is central to a family’s coping processes when experiencing a crisis. Discussion questions draw on Maguire’s (2012) communication-based coping model.

Abstract

In recent years, a number of communication scholars have found that online support communities can enhance, or extend, individuals’ social support networks by providing greater access to the increased social capital available in a larger, easier to maintain, network of individuals who are often geographically separated (Rains & Keating, 2011;Walther & Boyd, 2002; Wright & Bell, 2003; Wright & Miller, 2010). More and more individuals with health concerns have begun to seek social support online, with an estimated 7.5 million adults using…