Seeking Safety: A Treatment Manual for PTSD and Substance Abuse

This manual presents the most widely adopted evidence-based treatment for co-occurring trauma and addiction. For clients facing one or both of these issues, the most urgent clinical need is to establish safety--to reduce addictive behavior, build healthy relationships, manage symptoms such as dissociation and self-harm, and restore ideals that have been lost. Seeking Safety focuses on coping skills in the present; it can be implemented with individuals or groups, by any provider as well as by peers. It offers 25 topics, such as Asking for Help , Taking Good Care of Yourself , Setting Boundaries in Relationships , Healing from Anger , Honesty , and Coping with Triggers . The model is highly flexible, practical, and engaging, and can be conducted with any other treatment, including the author's past-focused model, Creating Change . The book has a large-size format and features reproducible client handouts that can be photocopied or downloaded.

See also Creating Change: A Past-Focused Treatment for Trauma and Addiction , and the self-help guide Finding Your Best Self, Revised Edition: Recovery from Addiction, Trauma, or Both , an ideal client recommendation.