At California Drug Counseling Inc. (CADC), we provide outpatient education, counseling and support to individuals with alcohol and substance abuse problems, helping them become productive members of their community. We focus on meeting the needs of hard-to-reach, difficult and underserved populations in Los Angeles County.

To ensure that our clients have the optimal chance to achieve success through our programs, our approach combines proven and results-oriented behavioral change theory with the expertise of a highly trained, licensed and certified team of professionals.

Our programs are based on social cognitive learning theory. The foundations of this approach* involve an individual’s perceptions about changing behavior and his or her outcome expectations, along with a personal belief in his or her ability to affect the desired change.

This approach requires that an individual not only possess the ability to perform the desired behaviors, but also have confidence in his or her power to perform them, even under difficult circumstances. Thus, when an individual enters one of our programs seeking to make a change, we not only help them identify the negative behaviors they need to avoid and the positive behaviors they need to practice; we also help them develop the skills to achieve these behaviors and the confidence that they can perform them, even when in crisis.



All of our treatment plans are individualized to meet the needs and abilities of the client. Our focus is to give the client the tools and techniques to move from substance abuse and self medication to a sober, drug-free lifestyle that allows them to embrace life and thrive. Here’s how we do it:

When first enrolled, clients have an individual session that gives the counselor pertinent information regarding health, substance abuse history, family background, employment history and educational background. Clients sign contracts regarding clinic rules, regulations, confidentiality and other specific requirements as mandated by law.

Within 30 days, the client and counselor generate a treatment plan that identifies the problems that the client presents, sets long-term goals and defines the behavioral objectives that will enable the client to attain these goals. Again, these will be individualized with the client, but could include:

Presenting Problems

• Alcohol abuse
• Marijuana use
• Cocaine use
• Lack of employment
• Legal issues

Goals

• Sobriety
• Gainful employment
• Successful parole release

Objectives

• Attend a 12-Step program two times a week
• Attend a drug/alcohol group three times a week
• Submit to urinalysis testing (random)
• Report to Parole Officer as scheduled
• Obey all laws
• Attend job workshops

CADC assists the client in reaching these goals not only through group and individual interventions, but with referrals that link the client with other agencies and/or resources. Our goal is to work with the client at his or her level of understanding. Furthermore, the topics we cover address the client as a whole person, and not only the client’s substance abuse issue. These topics include—

Recovery

• Prevention techniques
• Relapse prevention
• Decision-making
• Life skills
• Communication skills
• 12-Step Philosophy
• Related health risks: TB, HIV, STDs
• Self esteem
• Self reliance
• Family reunification
• Drug/alcohol education
• Problem solving
• And many many more..

In our HIV/AIDS prevention programs, we incorporate the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)-replicated models of social and behavioral change. These models have been validated by social scientists, and approved and endorsed by the CDC to provide reproducible results. Thus, we not taking our best guess at how to approach the problems that our clients present; we are addressing them through rigorously evaluated program models that incorporate the best available science.

Among the CDC-replicated program models we use are the—

• Popular Opinion Leader (POL) Program, which trains a group of trusted, well-liked men to endorse safer sexual behaviors through casual conversations they have with peers.
• Safety Counts Program, which targets injection drug, methamphetamine and crack cocaine users at high risk for HIV transmission, through group interventions that incorporate social modeling, social support and modified behavioral contracting.
• Social cognitive learning theory, which utilizes individualized goals and objectives to make positive behavior change.

Numerous studies support the use of properly implemented behavioral change theory as an effective intervention for substance abusers with related high-risk behaviors. At CADC, our programs reflect the best the science of behavioral change has to offer.

* As described in the Los Angeles County HIV Prevention Plan 2000.