Week 1: Introductions, Housekeeping, Sharing of experiences, History of alcohol in NZ from Book by Marten Hutt, Class knowledge of depressant drugs, e.g. alcohol

Week 2: Confidentiality and what it means in the classroom, Safe/unsafe levels of drinking, Recommended safe limits by ALAC, Effects of unsafe drinking, Police presentation

Week 3: Cost of alcohol & drug use to NZ society, Nga Huarahi video (1 hour)

Week 4: Stepping out of comfort zones, Strength, Illusion, What do all these drugs look like? Using overheads, Effects & consequences of drugs (legal & illegal) use brain scans and pictures, Short & long term effects on self, family, work, relationships, school, etc., Questions

Week 5: What is addiction & what causes it? DSM IV classification Mental, physical, emotional, spiritual, social conditioning, genetic pre-disposition? Presentation from Heidi Kleinschmidt Youth & alcohol & drugs, Questions & answers.

Week 6: Follow on from last week with Carlton Erickson’s Neurobiology of addiction, Can brain chemistry and/or malfunction cause drug dependence? Is addiction a physical, mental, emotional, spiritual disease? Is it a genetical pre-disposition? Social conditioning? Weakness or lack of moral fibre? Class to debate.

Week 7: Dual diagnosis and the interaction of drugs and mental illness, Treatment options, Brief introduction to Motivational counselling, Client centred counselling and other widely used interventions and assessments.

Week 8: Solutions, success rates, self-care and supervision, Farewell morning tea provided by students & tutor.