• COURSE DESCRIPTION

    This course provides a comprehensive exploration of harm reduction as both a therapeutic practice and a social justice framework. Led by Dr. Kristen Dempsey, a seasoned clinician and educator specializing in co-occurring disorders, the course introduces harm reduction strategies for supporting individuals with substance use and process addictions. Students will gain a deeper understanding of how harm reduction differs from abstinence-only models, how to integrate motivational interviewing and trauma-informed care, and how to foster autonomy and nonjudgmental collaboration with clients. This course is ideal for clinicians seeking to expand their toolkit and better serve clients across the full spectrum of readiness and recovery.

  • LEARNING OBJECTIVES

    Upon completing this course, participants will be able to: Define harm reduction and describe how it differs from abstinence-based approaches to substance use treatment; Briefly describe how trauma-informed care principles align with harm reduction practices in mental health treatment; List at least three community-based, non-abstinence recovery options and explain their potential benefits for diverse client populations


    TARGET AUDIENCE & INSTRUCTIONAL LEVEL

    This course is intended for psychologists, therapists, social workers, clinical counselors, and addiction counselors. Instructional level: Intermediate

  • HOW TO TAKE THIS COURSE

    In order to receive a certificate of completion reflecting the associated CE credit hour, you must:
    #1: Have an active paid Clearly Clinical membership
    #2: Listen to the corresponding course podcast
    #3: Achieve a passing grade on the post-presentation test (the test has up to ten questions and you must earn a score of at least 80%; users can re-test up to three times. After three attempts, users are advised to re-listen to the audio course in its entirety and then subsequently re-test. Psychologists who are seeking CE credit may not be awarded credit if they attempt to pass the post-test more than three times.)
    #4: Complete the requested course evaluation.

    Course elements (including the course audio, post-test, and requested course evaluation) can be completed on a computer or mobile device via your Clearly Clinical account.

  • COURSE FORMAT

    This course contains a one-hour, non-interactive audio podcast which is available for free on all major public podcast platforms, including YouTube, by searching for 'Clearly Clinical'. You can also listen to and download the audio file via our course player.

  • ACCOMMODATIONS

    If you have special needs or need an accommodation, please email us at [email protected] and we will do our best to assist you.

    If reading along while listening is helpful for you, we recommend listening to our podcast on YouTube with the closed captioning feature enabled (to do this, click the button in the YouTube video player with the 'CC' on it).

  • CERTIFICATE ACCESS DETAILS

    Once you've completed the course, your certificate will automatically populate in the 'Certificate' section of your account; it will also be emailed to you. Course certificates will be on file for ten (10) years from date of course completion regardless of a user's paid membership status.

  • COMMERCIAL SUPPORT

    There is no known commercial support or conflict of interest for this CE program, presenter, sponsor, instructor, or content. The instructor references their own resources as a potential option for further learning.

Interviewer and Interviewee

Kristen Dempsey, EdD, LMFT, LPCC

Addiction Recovery Expert

Kristin Dempsey is a Bay Area psychotherapist, counselor educator and trainer. Kristin has almost three decade's worth of experience working in community mental health settings and public K-12 schools providing mental health and substance use education and treatment services. She currently supports individuals and families in her San Francisco and Burlingame offices as well as through telehealth. Kristin is a member of the Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers (MINT), and she currently teaches motivational interviewing to school and other allied professionals. She is an adjunct professor at the Wright Institute’s Counseling Psychology Program and lecturing faculty at San Francisco State University. Kristin recently authored The Harm Reduction Workbook for Addiction (New Harbinger, 2024) and is currently editing a workbook on co-occurring disorders and is co-authoring an advanced motivational interviewing manual to address working with challenging clinical issues to be published in 2025.

Please visit her at KristenDempsey.com and The Harm Reduction Workbook for Addiction.

Elizabeth 'Beth' Irias, MS, LMFT

Interviewer & Clearly Clinical Founder

Elizabeth 'Beth' Irias (she/her) is a licensed Marriage & Family Therapist and the Founder and President of Clearly Clinical. She has specializations in Clinical Documentation, Feedback Informed Treatment, Best Practice, and Utilization Review, and works closely with clinical teams across the US as a trainer and national conference presenter; Beth was formerly an adjunct professor at Pepperdine University in the Graduate Psychology and Education department. Licensed in California and Oregon, she provides therapy via her private practice to young adult and adult clients, members of the LGBTQ population, and those with addictive disorders. She has two young children, a super cool spouse who helps out with Clearly Clinical's tech, and a rescue dog.

Why is Clearly Clinical the nation's premier CE provider?

  • CONVENIENT: All courses are 1-hour podcast episodes, available on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, GooglePlay, and all other free public podcast platforms

  • AFFORDABLE: We offer quality CE courses through a reasonably-priced membership

  • SOCIALLY-RESPONSIBLE: We make ongoing donations to The Trevor Project for LGBT youth suicide prevention, and have also previously donated to Black & Brown Founders, the NAACP’s Legal Defense Fund, Black Women’s Blueprint, Feeding America, and The Center for Reproductive Rights.

  • WOMAN-OWNED & QUEER-OWNED: We are founded and run by Elizabeth Irias, LMFT

  • DIVERSE: We highlight expert presenters from historically-marginalized communities


Quick Note: Are you confused about the difference between a Continuing Education Unit (CEU) and a Continuing Education (CE) Credit Hour?  Visit our Frequently Asked Questions page for clarification!