PSYC 440 – Addiction: from Theory to Treatment
Discipline(s): Psychology
Credits: 3
Available: fall semester 2024, spring semester 2025
Instructor: Brandice Luzi, MBPsS
Formerly called PSYCH 430 – Addiction: from Theory to Treatment
Description
As we continue to read the headlines proclaiming the rise in opioid addiction, the latest overdose crisis, the newest street drug or the toll addiction has on the family and society one can begin to ask why. Why do people take a substance knowing that they could become addicted? Why are some people able to experiment and not become addicted whereas others are unable to? Are those who become addicted just not ‘strong enough’ or do not have enough ‘willpower’ to quit?
These and others are some of the questions that we will discuss during our journey through addiction.
Objectives
By the end of this course, students will be able to do the following:
1. Define addiction and identify its core features and diagnostic criteria.
2. Describe various theories of addiction.
3. Understand the developmental course of addiction.
4. Describe the effects that various substances have on an individual.
5. Identify genetic and environmental factors associated with addiction.
6. Gain a basic understanding of interventions and treatments for addiction.
7. Discuss European trends in addiction.
Course descriptions may be subject to occasional minor modifications at the discretion of the instructor.