URRÚS (Irish for “strength” or “confidence”) was founded in 1996, by the Ballymun Youth Action Project, to privide training in relation to drug misuse. Most of our work is with adults, parents and professionals working in the addiction field or with those who through their work encounter addiction issues.
The courses we offer are
~ Community Addiction Studies Course(c) – NFQ Level 5 Module
~ Diploma in Community Drug and Alcohol Work – NFQ Level 7 Diploma
The workshops we offer are
~ Introduction to Addiction Studies
~ Women and Substance Use (6 CPD Credits)
~ Keyworking and Care Planning (8 CPD Credits)
~ Nutrition – A Guide for Professional Workers in the Field of Addiction (4 CPD Credits)
~ Drugs and Young People (4 CPD Credits)
~ Understanding Harm Reduction (4 CPD Credits)
~ Understanding Safer Injecting Techniques (4 CPD Credits)
~ Understanding Drug Use and Homelessness (4 CPD Credits)
~ Performance and Image Enhancing Drugs (PIED) (4 CPD Credits)
~ Working with Groups (12 CPD Credits)
COURSES
Community Addiction Studies Course – NFQ Level 5 Module
This 20-week course (3 hours each week + one Saturday) for anyone living or working in community who would like to be more effective when it comes to drugs/alcohol issues. There are no educational requirements to be part of this course, only a willingness to learn. The course is one-module accredited at NFQ Level 5.
Content includes: –
~ Pharmaceutical information on drugs and their effects
~ Process of addiction
~ How addiction effects individuals, families, communities
~ How individuals and communities can respond
~ Social analysis
~ Media analysis
~ Field visits to drugs services
Diploma in Community Drug and Alcohol Work – NFQ Level 7 Diploma
This course is offered in partnership with University College Dublin (UCD). The course was developed in response to the need for a progression route for those who had completed the Community Addiction Studies Course. We also believe it provides a much needed source of further training to those already involved in th drugs/addiction area, whether this be in the community, voluntary or statutory sector. The Diploma Course is a one-year course (August-May) and it is delivered one day a week, plus two Saturdays and two Thursday evenings each months.
Modules covered during the course: –
~ Nature and Context of Addiction
~ Community and Groupwork Theory and Practice
~ Understanding Prevention and Support in a Community Setting
~ Introduction to Irish Social Policy / Drug and Alcohol Policy
~ Introduction to Counselling
~ Reflective Practice
~ Approaches to Treatment and Rehabilitation
~ Motivational Interviewing
~ Professional Work Practice
~ Community Research Methods
WORKSHOPS
Introduction to Addiction Studies
Two-days for those wishing to gain a good basic understanding of drugs and related issues.
Content includes: –
~ Drug/Alcohol Information
~ Signs and Symptoms
~ Process of Addiction
~ Addiction and Family
~ Treatment Approaches/Making Referrals
Women and Substance Use (6 CPD Credits)
This one-day training is for workers in the addiction field, particularly those who would like to acquire a better understanding of how substance use affects women, pregnant women, the foetus and infant.
Content includes: –
~ Impact of substance use on women
~ Pregnancy and substance use – considerations for the mother’s health
~ Pregnancy and substance use – the implications for the health of the foetus
~ Effect of maternal substance use on early childhood development
~ Accessing treatment – options and barriers
Accreditation: Addiction Counsellors of Ireland – 6 CPD Credits.
Keyworking and Care Planning (8 CPD Credits)
This two-day course is for those who wish to enhance their skills in the keyworking role. It will also be of interest to anyone already working or volunteering in a care setting.
Content includes: –
~ Keyworker role – responsibilities and values
~ Assessment and care planning
~ Case management and shared care plans
~ Confidentiality
~ Record keeping
~ Reflective practice
Accreditation: Addiction Counsellors of Ireland – 8 CPD Credits.
Nutrition – A Guide for Professional Workers in the Field of Addiction (4 CPD Credits)
This one-day workshop will increase your knowledge of nutrition and its impact on our physical, mental and emotional well-being.
Content includes: –
~ What is nutrition and why is it important to our mental, emotional and physical health?
~ The link between addiction and nutrition
~ How to work with drug users from a nutritional perspective
~ Substance use and over stimulation of the palate
~ Understanding of nutritional deficits and requirements
~ Sleep patterns and food
~ Information about main food groups
~ Structure, routine and food patterns
Drugs and Young People (4 CPD Credits)
This half-day workshop is designed for persons working or volunteering with young people and drug users. It will enhance the participants knowledge of drug related issues specifically related to young people and the impact of such use on the individual, the family and community. It will also provide an update on interventions suitable to young people.
Content includes: –
~ Why do young people use drugs?
~ Usage and effects of common drugs by young people
~ Physical and psychological behaviours indicative of drug use
~ Communicating with young people
~ Family support in youth drug work
~ Age appropriate interventions
Accreditation: Addiction Counsellors of Ireland – 4 CPD Credits.
Understanding Harm Reduction (4 CPD Credits)
This half-day workshop is designed for persons working or volunteering in the drugs field and those who wish to enhance their professional understanding of the principles and practice of harm reduction as an approach in relation to problem drug use.
Content includes: –
~ Definition of harm reduction
~ Principles of harm reduction
~ Drug related rish and harm
~ Practice of harm reduction
~ Development of services
~ Best practice service delivery
Accreditation: Addiction Counsellors of Ireland – 4 CPD Credits.
Understanding Safer Injecting Techniques (4 CPD Credits)
This half-day workshop is designed for persons working or voluntering in the drugs field and who wish to enhance their professional understanding of safer injecting practice.
Content includes: –
~ Different types of hypoermic injecting (e.g., intramuscular/intravenous)
~ Differences between veins and arteries
~ Vein, artery and neural damage associated with needle use
~ Correct injecting sites
~ High risk injecting sites
~ Vectors of infection
~ Demo and practice of safer injecting technique as a harm reduction strategy
~ Best practice and ethics in assessing and advising service users on injecting
Accreditation: Addiction Counsellors of Ireland – 4 CPD Credits.
Understanding Drug Use and Homelessness (4 CPD Credits)
This half-day workshop is for project workers and volunteers working with the homeless and drug users and will look at the causes of homelessness; the problems experienced by homeless people and the barriers to integration.
Content includes: –
~ What is homelessness?
~ Statistical overview
~ Personal and social causes of homelessness
~ Mental, physical and emotional effects of homelessness
~ Social policy
~ Exit pathways
~ Integration and stable living
Accreditation: Addiction Counsellors of Ireland – 4 CPD Credits.
Performance and Image Enhancing Drugs (PIED) (4 CPD Credits)
This half-day workshop is for those who would like to gain an understanding of the psychological and pharmacological implications, along with the potential harm associated with image enhancing drug use.
Content includes: –
~ Overview of performance and image enhancing drugs
~ PIED user profile
~ Reasons for usage
~ How steroids work
~ Other common PIED
~ Physiological and phychological issues
~ Legal restrictions
~ Harm associated with toxicity and administration of PIED
~ Harm minimisation practices
Accreditation: Addiction Counsellors of Ireland – 4 CPD Credits.
Working with Groups (12 CPD Credits)
This six-day course is for those who are working or interacting within a group setting and would like to gain greater knowledge of the theory and practical skills associated with effective groupwork.
Content includes: –
~ Participating in groups, experiences, strengths and challenges
~ Group theory, types of groups, stages of development, group structures, etc.
~ Diversity in groups, managing difference and conflict
~ Group leadership, roles and skills of facilitation, planning, implementation and review
~ skill develoment – facilitation practice and reflection
Accreditation: Addiction Counsellors of Ireland – 12 CPD Credits.
For more information: – mailto:urrus@byap.ie