Wellspring Center for Prevention offers numerous in-person training courses for prevention and addiction counseling professionals, as well as online awareness and prevention training courses through our partners, Mindcross Training.

Below is our complete current course catalog for Certified Prevention Specialists (CPS), listed by category:

Prevention Education and Delivery

It is impossible to be an effective Prevention Specialist without a solid foundation of knowledge about all aspects of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs. Whether educating youth with an evidence-based curriculum or testifying before the legislature to advocate for system-wide change, you must have your facts straight and be able to communicate that knowledge effectively.

Dynamics and Process of ATOD Dependency and Abuse (P201)

In this course, participants will identify major drug categories, and learn about the addiction spectrum — from abstinence to dependency — and different models of ATOD abuse in all contexts of the Bio-psycho-social model. Defense mechanisms common to addicts and alcoholics will also be discussed. This is a core class for those planning to take the CPS exam and an excellent refresher for more seasoned professionals. This class reminds us how we can make a difference in the lives of our clients or in the communities where we work.

Impact of Substance Use Disorders on Families and Larger Systems (P202)

This course is designed to explore the complex relationship between family dysfunction, alcohol and drug abuse, and prevention. Interactive exercises will be used to present adaptive roles and defense mechanisms of both addicted individuals and their family members. Strategies for assisting individuals and families will be discussed in depth.

Prevention Issues with Special Populations (P203)

You can’t put a round peg into a square hole. This course presents information about children, adolescents, older adults, LGBTQ individuals, individuals with disabilities, individuals with mental illness, and community professionals to help the prevention specialist make programming relevant to the target audience. This interactive class will benefit prevention staff by identifying community resources and risk factors specific to each population.

Prevention of Violent and Compulsive Behaviors (P204)

This course will reinforce the correlation between substance abuse and the eight different types of violence, including domestic violence, gangs, school violence, hate crimes, and child abuse among others. The role of the perpetrator and victim will be discussed. The course will also focus on specific compulsive behaviors including, gambling, eating disorders, and gaming.

Presentation Skills (P205)

This course will provide instructions on how to design a presentation template. It will enable attendees to learn methods for engaging the audience, e.g. appropriate use of humor, ice breakers, audiovisual, handouts, exercises, etc.; how to identify the “dos and don’ts” of effective presentations; identify audience management techniques; and, deliver a sample presentation and receive constructive feedback.

Cultural Competency

Cultural Competency (P603)

This course will increase cultural awareness, discuss the need for change, and the importance of competency for the prevention professional. It will focus on understanding different cultures on a worldwide-bases, building skills necessary for effectively working within certain communities and populations as well as identifying different resources that can aid in providing the best cultural practice.

Please note: This course is only available online. Please click here for more information and to order.

Planning and Evaluations

As a Prevention Specialist, you will be responsible for implementing programs and managing projects. You must know how to assess the needs of your community, choose and deliver the proper services to respond to those needs, and then be able to evaluate your initiatives to ensure they achieve their goals. With the data you collect, you then need to be able to communicate your message effectively to your community stakeholders.

Prevention Program Planning and Assessment (P101)

The purpose of this course is to help students develop a community-based prevention plan. Students will be able to develop a plan utilizing a needs and resource assessment. This includes creating goals and measurable objectives designed to meet the needs of the community. Students will also learn relevant strategies and methods to achieve the objectives. At the end of this course, the student should be able to: identify sources of research information to support program planning, identify activities to achieve objectives, identify appropriate models, strategies, and methods, and write clear, measurable outcome objectives.

Prevention Activities and Methods (P102)

To be effective, prevention activities must be tailored to the target population. This involves applying the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP) strategies and using best practices. Activities can be designed using the Logic Model to address the needs of the community. By the end of this course, you will be able to apply various methods to the design of effective prevention activities.

Program Design (P103)

To be effective, prevention programs must be tailored to a specific audience. This involves careful assessment of the population’s learning needs. Programs must be age and culturally appropriate, and take various learning styles into consideration as the format of the program and activities are designed. By the end of this course, you will be able to apply various learning theories to the design of an effective prevention program.

Evidence-Based Prevention Models (P104)

What does science have to do with prevention? This class will answer that question as well as many others. Sources for evidence-based prevention programs, fidelity, and adaptation will be presented and ways to draw meaningful interpretations of evaluation results will be included. Anyone seeking funding for prevention programs should attend this workshop to learn what is on the cutting edge in the prevention field.

Prevention Program Evaluation (P105)

Evaluation is NOT a dirty word! In this course, participants will develop a better understanding of the Strategic Prevention Framework, explore the different types of evaluations and how to decide when to use each, and learn about different data collection methods that are user-friendly and meaningful. Novice as well as experienced prevention staff are encouraged to attend to find out how to make their programs’ evaluation design and results work for them.

Communications

Prevention Specialist professionals will have to possess the following knowledge, skills and/or attitudes, knowledge of information gathering techniques and data sources, ability to collect, organize and interpret data, knowledge of current prevention program best practices, models, and the continuum of care, knowledge of current theory and models and more.

P 301 – Public Relations Skills

At the end of this course, the student should be able to: Promote programs, services, and activities, and maintain good public relations; Participate in public awareness campaigns and projects relating to health promotion across the continuum of care; Prepare various media packages and distribute to media outlets; Establish positive working relationships with the media to promote prevention efforts; and, Coordinate planning and implementation of special events

P302 -Interpersonal Communication Skills

At the end of this course, the student should be able to: Identify marketing techniques for prevention programs; Apply principles of effective listening; Apply principles of public speaking; Employ effective facilitation skills; Communicate effectively with various audiences; and Demonstrate interpersonal communication competency.

Community Organization

Prevention Specialists accomplish many of their goals by bringing individuals and organizations together in the form of coalitions working toward common goals. Working with community-based organizations is a way to maximize impact while generating the best buy-in for your efforts.

Community Assessment (P401)

A community assessment is a comprehensive description of your target community. The assessment process is a systematic gathering and analysis of data about the community your coalition or agency serves. Participants will learn the process and available data sources for the purpose of identifying and addressing local alcohol, tobacco, and other drug problems.

Coalition Building and Maintenance (P402)

This course will examine methods for building a common agenda. Participants will learn how to effectively work with various aspects of communities to affect change and mobilize typical and atypical resources. Participants will learn skills to develop a coalition of community stakeholders (including volunteers) to collaborate on prevention programming. We will demystify the process of coalition-building including how to develop goals, by-laws, mission statements, and objectives.

Coordinating Community Prevention Activities (P403)

In this course, participants will increase their knowledge in working to build community ownership of prevention programs by collaborating with key community leaders and members when planning, implementing, and evaluating a program. Additionally, skills for providing technical assistance to those key leaders and members of the community will be addressed. Participants will also be able to identify and describe the application of prevention strategies in various settings.

Public Policy and Environmental Change

While providing evidence-based programming to individuals and families is central to the work of Prevention Specialists, nothing has a greater impact on the larger community than changes in policy. Whether they come in the form of school regulations, local ordinances, or state laws, policy changes have the ability to change community norms related to substance use in powerful ways.

Introduction to Methods and the Impact of Environmental Change (P501)

Participants will understand how the culture around our youth plays a significant part in forming their values and behavioral norms. They will understand how environmental change strategies move away from the focus on individual behavior and attempt to impact this larger environment. In addition to the skills they need to resist pressures to use alcohol and other drugs, will the environment around them provide protection or put them more at risk. Strategies include changing laws, policies, and community practices. This course will cover the impact of environmental change on the entire population to reduce collective risk.

Assessment and Planning of Environmental Strategies (P502)

In this course, the student will learn what Environmental Strategies are and be able to discern between individual and environmental strategies. Students will discuss the Environmental Prevention Model as well as how to implement a needs assessment. Finally, students will learn how to implement strategies and how and what tools to use to evaluate their effectiveness.

Implementation & Enforcement of Environmental Change Strategies (P503)

This course will focus on CADCA’s environmental change strategies and how they are used to affect environmental norms for problem behaviors. Special attention will be directed to policy development and enforcement initiatives. Prevention practitioners can expect to learn how to provide technical assistance to set the stage and orchestrate the environmental plan in various settings.

Personal Growth & Responsibility

As professionals in the field of prevention, it is critical to understand the ethics and legal issues that impact your work. In this time of few resources being directed toward prevention, it is even more important that Prevention Specialists ensure the services provided best meet the needs of their communities.

Professional Growth (P601)

This course will provide information on how participants can increase their knowledge, skills, and abilities related to current prevention theory and practice. It will outline how to develop networking strategies designed to strengthen and increase professional relationships and how to keep current on prevention resource updates and legislative updates.

Ethics and Legal Issues for Prevention Specialist (P602)

At the end of this course, the student should be able to not only understand the legal, professional, and ethical standards that apply to prevention specialists but also how that impacts their day-to-day work. They will learn about the laws relating to confidentiality (42CFR PART 2) and the importance of compliance. The Certification Board Code of Ethics will be reviewed and participants will understand reporting responsibilities.

Cultural Competency (P603)

This course will increase cultural awareness, discuss the need for change, and the importance of competency for the prevention professional. It will focus on understanding different cultures on a worldwide-bases, building skills necessary for effectively working within certain communities and populations as well as identifying different resources that can aid in providing the best cultural practice.

Please note: This course is available online. Please click here for more information and to order.

Self Care for the Prevention Specialist (P604)

Stress can take its toll on many professionals – including prevention specialists. This course will describe the role stress plays and its impact on one’s professional and personal life. It describes effective methods of caring for oneself and working on keeping a balance between one’s work and personal life. Participants reflect on healthy and unhealthy ways of dealing with stress including the use of alcohol and other drugs and learn to adopt and model healthy behaviors.