Family therapists and substance-abuse professionals in Illinois now have a new tool in the “Training Manual on Women’s Substance Abuse Treatment,” which focuses on the special needs of women trying to overcome their addictions.
“Most traditional treatment strategies were based on the fact that the majority of drug abusers were men,” says Lt. Gov. Bob Kustra, whose office funded the manual.
“Women have special needs when it comes to drug treatment,” says Kustra. “Women have families, and they are afraid to enter treatment programs because they are either afraid of legal action or that they won’t be able to stay with their children.
“There also seems to be more of a social stigma attached to a woman who’s a drug user. These things need to be explained and understood by counselors, which is the reason for this manual.”
Kustra cites statistics showing that currently 40 percent of crack addicts are women and that girls are 15 times more likely than their mothers to be using drugs by age 15.
“It’s time to reexamine our strategies to make sure that we have effective treatment approaches for women and for women with children,” he says.
The “Training Manual on Women’s Substance Abuse Treatment,” which was published in July, is intended as a resource for counselors and other professionals who work with drug addicts. It’s the result of a cooperative effort by Kustra’s office, the Illinois Department of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse, the Illinois Advisory Council on Alcoholism and Other Drug Dependency and Governors State University.
The manual is free to any individual working in a substance-abuse treatment program. For a copy, call the Illinois Department of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse at 312-814-3840.