by Dan Barmettler

This year marks the 20th anniversary of The Institute for Integral Development, a training organization that has been serving the addictions and mental health field since 1977. From its home base in Colorado Springs, Colo., the Institute has provided seminars and conferences to over 25,000 professionals from all 50 states as well as attendees from Europe, Asia and South America. Since its inception, the Institute has attempted to present a comprehensive, interdisciplinary approach not only to alcoholism and drug addiction, but to the myriad issues and disorders that so often accompany these behaviors.

From its inaugural training conference, a wide array of speakers has stimulated audiences with current and often controversial approaches. The first Summer Institute in 1977 featured such diverse trainers and speakers as David Smith of the Haight Ashbury Free Clinic, Sharon Wegsheider-Cruse on the role of family dynamics in substance abuse, Andrew Weil addressing cultural aspects of psychoactive substances, and Avram Goldstein on breakthrough research on the brain, endorphins and opiate addiction. This represented just a part of the holistic approach necessary to understand and treat addictions. This broad-based approach was indicative of the demanding breadth of professional knowledge required of counselors and caretakers as this relatively new specialty expanded in the 1970s. These demands for professionalism on the part of counselors in behavioral health have continued to increase to the present day.

As it starts its third decade of training, the Institute reflects on the past and the future of training in the addictions field. Changes in the treatment field run the gamut of credentialling and licensure issues, to changes in insurance coverage for treatment, managed care and diminishing funding for certain programs and populations. As a provider of professional continuing education through national accreditation boards and state licensing agencies, the Institute is constantly designing training for substance abuse counselors, social workers, psychologists, nurses, certified counselors, educators and other professionals.

This increasingly "mixed" audience of professionals represents a change from the earlier, more traditional substance abuse counselor population. While addictions counseling represents a legitimate specialty reflected in many states' certification and licensing procedures, more mainstream mental and behavioral health workers are seeking to work with clients presenting these problems and include them in their practice.

As these different groups of professionals merge and interact, there are sometimes different ideas and emphases behind their counseling approaches. This will also be reflected in what training should include. For example, many who work in this field see addictive behavior as rooted in the physical, emotional and spiritual life of their clients. But how does a counselor incorporate spiritual issues into his or her practice? While it may be assumed that many coming from a background of 12-Step programs might be familiar with the issue of spirituality, it would be a mistake to assume it for all clients or counselors. This is particularly true now that the field is populated with more traditionally trained psychotherapists whose academic training would not have addressed such issues as the role of belief, religion or spirituality in one's emotional well being.

Another major concern among the trainers is that the economic and structural forces at play in the field of addiction and mental health may cause counselors and other professionals to be more limited, parochial and isolated in their exposure to training. It is ironic that "isolation" is one of the characteristics of their clients that must be addressed and overcome for treatment success and recovery. The advances of electronic technology in training, distance learning, the Internet, correspondence courses and other developments must certainly be considered by anyone involved with training today. Yet, the Institute proceeds from the premise that a unique learning environment is created when people from various locations and with diverse backgrounds journey to a site to learn, share, enjoy and rededicate their efforts together. The cross-fertilizations of insight and experience, opportunities for clinical training as well as personal growth, experienced in a supportive setting create a memorable training experience.

The Institute encourages individuals or organizations in the helping profession to contact their respective training providers in regard to what they think training should consist of and reflect in this challenging time of transitions. Through this dialogue, training will advance and best serve the needs of those whom the helping professionals assist.

The Institute staff always experiences a bittersweet feeling at the end of a seminar or conference. There is a sadness in saying goodbye to old and new friends among attendees and faculty. There is also heartfelt joy in the satisfaction of knowing that participants leave, like ripples on a pond, and spread their renewed sense of self and service to those in pain and need throughout the nation.

Dan Barmettler is founder and director of The Institute for Integral Development, and worked in drug and alcohol programs for the Department of Defense as a counselor and trainer for 10 years before devoting a full-time effort to designing and holding training events in different locations throughout the country. The Institute can be reached at 800/544-9562 or P.O. Box 2172, Colorado Springs, CO 80901.