Culturally Responsive Program Offers Solutions in Opioid Crisis

Bowie State Program Trains 100+ Nationally Certified Addiction Counselors

MEDIA CONTACT: Damita Chambers, dchambers@bowiestate.edu, 301-832-2628 mobile

(BOWIE, Md.) – In response to the nation’s skyrocketing opioid-related deaths, Bowie State University has prepared more than 100 people to become nationally certified substance abuse counselors through a program that teaches a highly effective model for addiction recovery using a cultural responsive approach.

In two years, 105 behavioral health professionals and BSU graduate students in the Department of Counseling have completed the yearlong Peer Recovery Workforce Training Project, funded by a four-year, $1.02 million grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Among the program’s graduates are 14 addiction supervisors from six local organizations, who learned the skills to teach the training, building the capacity of community centers to use the peer recovery model. Graduates are ready to take the examination for the National Certified Peer Recovery Support Specialist, a recognized credential for substance abuse counselors.

Considered a best practice by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the peer recovery model encourages counselors to use their personal or indirect experience with the recovery process to help others in similar situations.

“The whole idea is that most people can recall someone in their circle who suffered from some type of addiction. That’s the power of it – the counselor knows what they experienced in trying to deal with an uncle or a sister, and now they have a model that they can use to help someone else. We get a lot of testimonies from students saying, ‘I just wish I could have helped someone that was close to me,’” said BSU Counseling Professor Cubie Bragg, a nationally certified counselor and the program’s coordinator. “A lot of our trainees have personal experience, but not the academic knowledge. So we give them 60 hours of academic experience to match their real-life experience. Now, they can become more proficient counselors.”

Bowie State’s program provides an interactive 60-hour course using the Jordan Peer Recovery curriculum and a 500-hour internship at one of nine sites in Prince George’s County and Anne Arundel County, which has one of the state’s highest opioid death rates. Internship sites include the Prince George’s County Correctional Center, Cheverly Health Center and the Bridge Center at Adams House.

By 2021, the program is set to train 265 peer recovery specialists committed to serving Maryland’s underserved communities, especially adult African American males whose addiction is often compounded by social stigma, unemployment and lack of insurance.

“The strength of BSU’s Peer Recovery program is the cultural responsiveness. There are very few peer recovery programs where you holistically consider the culture of the person,” said Dr. Bragg. “It’s not that you have a clinician that may not be able to empathize with the person – these counselors are like people that their clients have associated with all their lives. They are people who can speak the language and people who know the culture – that is the most important part.”

Through experiential learning and role-playing, program participants apply new skills and knowledge to navigate real-life situations in working with clients, either through in-person training or a hybrid of online and in-person modules.

BSU’s program is filling a need in Maryland to combat the opioid problem. The state’s rate of opioid overdose deaths is more than twice the national average, and Maryland ranks among the nation’s top five for opioid-related deaths, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

“One of the things we’ve been trying to do is impact our partners, so that peer recovery is an evidence-based strategy that is utilized more throughout the state of Maryland,” said Dr. Darla Scott, a BSU school psychology professor and the program’s evaluator. “We will know that we have been successful if we see peer recovery training used widely as an additional strategy across our community partners.” 

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About Bowie State University
Bowie State University (BSU) is an important higher education access portal for qualified persons from diverse academic and socioeconomic backgrounds, seeking a high-quality and affordable public comprehensive university. The university places special emphasis on the science, technology, cybersecurity, teacher education, business, and nursing disciplines within the context of a liberal arts education. For more information about BSU, visit bowiestate.edu.