CEP to contribute to IU’s Grand Challenges
New opportunities will be available for Addictions Counseling tracks
IU is responding to the addiction crisis across the state with the launch of the Responding to the Addictions Crisis initiative, a project that brings together an array of schools and faculty across the university, including the Department of Counseling and Educational Psychology (CEP). Associated professors Ellen Vaughan and Mary Waldron with CEP will lead a project that aims to expand opportunities for specialized training in Addictions Counseling. They will simultaneously develop an Addictions Counseling track in the Mental Health Counseling Masters Program as well as a Certificate Program in Addictions Counseling for current mental health professionals who want specialized training in the addictions, with a timeframe of having both ready in 12 to 18 months.
“I think that IU and the State of Indiana understand well that we have to address this crisis at multiple levels, including in education, training, and certification. There is currently a shortage of mental health professionals with training in the addictions,” Vaughan said. “One way in which CEP can be a partner in addressing the crisis is by capitalizing on our strong counseling programs and providing specialized training to those students who want to specialize in the addictions.”
Vaughan hopes the project will help expand and build capacity for training in the addictions, and also establishing and maintaining a program that provides state-of-the-art empirically-supported training in order to provide an ongoing pipeline of addictions professionals to serve across Indiana.
The initiative aims to implement a comprehensive plan to reduce deaths from addiction, ease the burden of drug addiction on Hoosier communities, and improve health and economic outcomes. IU has pledged $50 million toward the project as part of the university’s bicentennial Grand Challenges program.