How to Conduct a Quality Substance Use Evaluation Education Free Webinars 2026 January - March Webinars

Substance use disorders (SUDs) are common, affecting at least 1 of 3 adult Americans at some point in their lives.  One of the many characteristics of SUDs that makes them unique is that the nature of the addictive process is such that denial, minimization, and lack of insight are natural components of the development of the disorder.  Accordingly, clients often deny, minimize, rationalize, and under-report, both intentionally and unintentionally, making clinical and forensic evaluations very challenging.  Additionally, there are many incentives for clients to avoid full disclosure because the stakes are often extremely high (e.g., child custody evaluations, mandated employment evaluations).  Despite these challenges, evaluators can employ various strategies and techniques to differentiate fact from fiction, ultimately arriving at a solid and defensible conclusion that the clinician can feel confident with.  This training was designed to provide you with those strategies.

Presenter:

Aaron Norton, PhD, LMHC, LMFT, MAC, is a licensed mental health counselor and licensed marriage and family therapist with certifications in addictions and forensic evaluation. He serves as executive director of the National Board of Forensic Evaluators (NBFE), as an assistant professor of counselor education at the University of South Florida, as co-chair of AMHCA's international counseling task force, and as chair of FMHCA's government relations committee.  He co-authored the forensic evaluation section of the "AMHCA Standards for the Practice of Clinical Mental Health Counseling" and the proposal for AMHCA's Clinical Mental Health Specialist in Forensic Evaluation credential, and has been published in several journals and professional magazines. He has 20 years of experience as a psychotherapist, forensic evaluator, and clinical supervisor.

Learning Objectives:

• Participants will be able to identify the diagnostic criteria for substance use disorders and apply the criteria in a case scenario.
• Participants will be able to conduct a clinical interview to determine if a client meets diagnostic criteria.
• Participants will be able to identify tests that detect subtle attributes of SUDs and have built-in validity scales to detect defensiveness, denial, and inconsistencies.