The goal of this presentation is to describe Seeking Safety, an evidence-based therapeutic model for addressing trauma and/or addiction (clients do not have to have both issues). Attendees will be able to begin implementing the Seeking Safety approach in various settings.
Seeking Safety teaches present-focused coping skills to help clients attain safety in their lives. It is highly flexible and can be conducted in any setting by a wide range of clinicians and also peers. There are up to 25 treatment topics, each representing a safe coping skill relevant to trauma and/or addiction, such as “Asking for Help”, “Creating Meaning”, “Compassion”, and “Healing from Anger”. Topics can be done in any order and the treatment can be customized as needed. Seeking Safety strives to increase hope through emphasis on ideals; it offers exercises, emotionally-evocative language, and quotations to engage patients; it attends to clinician processes; and it provides concrete strategies to build recovery skills. It is also designed to be highly culturally sensitive and adaptable.
See www.seekingsafety.org for more info.
Lisa M. Najavits, PhD is Adjunct Professor, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School (Worcester, MA) and Director, Treatment Innovations. She was on the faculty of Harvard Medical School (McLean Hospital) for 25 years and Boston University School of Medicine (VA Boston) for 12 years. She specializes in the development of new counseling models for trauma and addiction, clinical trials research, and community-based care. She is author of over 200 professional publications, as well as the books Seeking Safety: A Treatment Manual for PTSD and Substance Abuse; Finding Your Best Self: Recovery from Addiction, Trauma, or Both; A Woman's Addiction Workbook; and Creating Change: A Past-Focused Treatment for Trauma and Addiction.
She served as president of the Society of Addiction Psychology of the American Psychological Association; and has consulted widely on public health efforts in trauma and addiction both nationally and internationally, including to the National Institutes of Health, the Surgeon General, the United Nations, and the Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration.
She is on various advisory boards and has received awards including the Betty Ford Award of the Addiction Medical Education and Research Association, the Young Professional Award of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies; the Early Career Contribution Award of the Society for Psychotherapy Research; the Emerging Leadership Award of the American Psychological Association Committee on Women; and the Barnard College (Columbia University) Distinguished Alumna award. She is a licensed psychologist in Massachusetts and conducts a psychotherapy practice.
