VIRTUAL-Harm Reduction: Principles and Practices

VIRTUAL-Thursday, March 20, 2025, 9:00am-12:00pm-$109 including CEUs
Harm Reduction: Principles and Practices
Jean Brickman LSW, LADC I

Harm reduction is a set of principles and practices aimed to reduce the impacts of substance use on those who are actively using. Practically, it also gives clinicians a set of strategies to use to connect, engage and support individuals who are not currently interested in stopping their use, which can often lead to frustration and disconnection in treatment where abstinence is the expectation. By broadening our “lens” as to what we can do to support people who are using to include this range of interventions, we can create new opportunities for safety, hope and even change in the work that we do.

Following this training the participants will understand:

• The theory and guiding principles for using a harm reduction framework.  
• Specific strategies for harm reduction for specific substances & general substance misuse.           
• The importance of policy advocacy to broaden the interventions available to make the use of harm reduction possible.

Jean Brickman LADC I, RCPF, is the Co-Occurring Disorders Clinical Supervisor at Open Sky Community Services.  In her role, she oversees the provision of services for supporting individuals with co-occurring mental health and substance use challenges.  She also provides supervision, training and consultation organizationally to support staff teams in providing recovery-oriented, person-first care and to enhance the capacity of specialty practitioners in delivering these services.

Ms. Brickman has over 15 years of experience, specializing in supporting individuals who are navigating co-occurring disorders, providing direct care across a variety of residential, community-based and outpatient settings. 

Ms. Brickman is passionate about the use of evidence-based practices and has driven agency-wide practice implementations that support multiple pathways to recovery and enhance equitable access to these supports.  These practices include: Harm Reduction strategies, Motivational Interviewing and the use of Seeking Safety and Recovery Life Skills groups, to provide care to individuals at any stage of change. 

Ms. Brickman is a graduate of City University of New York, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, where she earned an MA in Forensic Psychology.  Jean is a licensed alcohol and drug counselor and licensed social worker.  She holds the designation of Recovery Coach Professional Facilitator through Connecticut Community For Addiction Recovery.