Goals/Objectives

This course will take the trainee through the issues and needs for relapse prevention in the treatment of chemical dependency. He will help you examine the major approaches currently in practice, and increase your awareness of the critical needs that relapse prevention plans in long-term recovery.

By participating in this DLC, the trainee will:

1. obtain a fundamental understanding of relapse by exploring definitions, models of addictive behavior and approaches to treatment and relapse;
2. gain a basic understanding of the relapse process and symptoms through examination of the following theories - Relapse Prevention Therapy (RPT), Cue Extinction (CT), and Recovery Training and Self-help (RSTH);
3. explore a variety of current strategies for the prevention of relapse via risk reduction;
4. identify problems or life circumstances that may be positively or negatively affect relapse;
5. create a forum to discuss practical application and special issues related to relapse and the prevention of relapse through the use of internet technologies.

Your Course Instructor:
Vic Shaw
M.Th.
Co-Founder, DLCAS
Trainer/Instructor

Vic Shaw is a graduate of Southern Methodist University's Perkins School of Theology with a M.Th. and specialization in pastoral counseling. He has been active in the addiction field since 1970. During the past twenty-seven years he has worked as an Educational Specialist for the Dallas Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse, as Director of Alcohol Education for the Dallas County Community College District, as an addiction counselor for The Texas Rehabilitation Commission, and as founding director of a thirty (30) bed inpatient addictions treatment center at Hurst-Euless-Bedford Hospital.

Vic was instrumental in the early formation of the Texas Association of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Counselors (TAADAC) and led efforts to implement licensure standards in Texas. He has been a certified addiction counselor in Texas as well as a Licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor. He is former chairman of the Education Committee for TAADAC and former chairman of the Texas Task Force for Addictions Manpower Development. Vic also served on the Board of Directors for the Dallas and Tarrant County Councils on Alcohol and Drug Abuse. Since 1983 he has devoted most of his time and energies to developing a model addictions counselor's training program that has been implemented throughout Texas, Florida, Mississippi, and Southern California. Vic is one of the founders of, and currently serves as Director of Marketing for the Distance Learning Center.