- Convey a welcoming, empathic attitude, supporting a philosophy of dual recovery.
- Screen for comorbidity, including trauma history.
- Assess for acute mental health/detoxification risk, and know how to get the person to safety.
- Obtain assessment of the comorbid condition, either one that has already been done, or, if needed, a new one.
- Be aware of—and understand—the diagnosis and treatment plan for each problem (at least as well as the person understands them).
- Support treatment adherence, including medication compliance, 12-step attendance, etc.
- Identify stage of change for each problem.
- Provide one-on-one and group interventions for education and motivational enhancement, to help people move through stages of change.
- Provide specific skills training to reduce substance use and/or manage mental health symptoms or mental illness (e.g., help people to take meds exactly as prescribed).
- Help the person manage feelings and mental health symptoms without using substances.
- Help the person advocate with other providers regarding mental health treatment needs.
- Help the person advocate with other providers regarding substance abuse/ dependence treatment needs.
- Collaborate with other providers so that the person receives an integrated message.
- Educate the person about the appropriateness of taking psychiatric meds and participating in mental health treatment while attending 12-step recovery programs and participating in other addiction treatment support systems.
- Modify (simplify) skills training for any problem to accommodate a person’s cognitive or emotional learning impairment or disability, regardless of cause.
- Promote dual-recovery meeting attendance, when appropriate for the person and such meetings are available.