The State of Process Addictions in the Counseling Profession

A discussion of mixed-methods research conducted by the IAAOC Process Addictions committee on the current levels of reported self-efficacy for screening, diagnosing, and treating process addictions among professional counselors, counseling students, and counselor educators surveyed will be presented. The participants will have an opportunity to ask questions and discuss their own concerns regarding training and resource deficits in this area of practice. Ethical issues of competency and client welfare, as well as diversity issues will be addressed. Participants will gain access to resources developed by committee members for further education and training as well as screening and referral resources for process addictions.

Objectives:

• Learn the results of national research regarding the state of process addictions in the counseling profession.
• Discuss concerns and questions regarding process addiction training, competency issues, and client welfare.
• Understand the importance of screening general counseling clients for sexual behavior problems.
• Learn about the proposed DSM V diagnostic criteria and supporting research for Hypersexual Disorder.
• Gain resources for learning more about process addictions.

Dr. Judy Nelson is a retired associate professor in the Counselor Education Department at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas. Currently she teaches as an adjunct at the University of Arizona and is the sole proprietor of Nelson Consulting. She is a past president of the Texas Counseling Association and was the Chair of the Process Addictions Committee in the International Association of Offender and Addictions Counseling prior to her retirement. Dr. Nelson's interest areas include couple and family counseling, critical issues in school counseling, and adolescent substance use. Dr. Nelson has authored 20 book chapters, over 40 peer-reviewed articles and papers, has published one book, and is currently working on a companion to the first book. She and her co-authors were the recipients of the Counseling Outcomes, Research, and Evaluation (CORE) Visibility Article of the Year Award in 2016.