Having a structured cannabis counselling manual can help practitioners plan assessment and early intervention sessions with more confidence. The material is written for adults with marijuana dependence and for counsellors, substance misuse workers, addiction clinicians and mental health professionals who need a practical framework for brief treatment.
The opening pages set out the purpose of Brief Marijuana Dependence Counseling, introduce case examples, and place the approach within the Marijuana Treatment Project. Visible contents include background information, current findings about marijuana use, guidance on who should use the manual, and an overview of how the material is organised for clinical use.
The model section covers general theoretical assumptions, therapeutic tasks, the target population, and the structure of individual sessions. It is likely to be useful in community drug and alcohol services, outpatient treatment programmes, counselling placements, supervision discussions, and training for practitioners supporting adults who want to reduce or stop cannabis use.
Practical treatment issues are addressed early in the manual, including the client and counsellor relationship, confidentiality, orienting the client, preventing attrition, practice exercises, termination, and strategies for common clinical problems. The assessment section then moves into building rapport, assessing marijuana use, following an assessment session protocol, and using session forms.
The publication was produced for SAMHSA’s Center for Substance Abuse Treatment and written by Karen L. Steinberg, Roger A. Roffman, Kathleen M. Carroll, Bonnie McRee, Thomas F. Babor, Michael Miller, Ronald Kadden, David Duresky and Robert Stephens.
