GACA Professional Development

 Virtual Only

The Ethics of MOUD and the Essential Role of Counseling in Opioid and/or Stimulant Use Disorder Treatment


Friday, November 6, 2026


8:45 AM Check-In  

9:00 AM Workshop Begins

12:15 PM   Workshop Concludes

Location:  Online

3.0 CE Hours Approved by GACA, GSCSW and NAADAC. 

Approved for 3.0 Clock Hours with NBCC.

Description: 

The treatment of opioid and stimulant use disorders presents complex ethical, clinical, and legal challenges that require providers to balance evidence-based practice with person-centered care. This training examines the ethical principles that guide decision-making in the treatment of opioid use disorder (OUD), including the use of medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD), treatment duration, tapering decisions, patient autonomy, and equitable access to care. Participants will review current research on MOUD effectiveness and overdose risk, explore the impact of stigma on treatment engagement and recovery, and examine how ethical principles influence clinical practice across diverse healthcare settings.

The course also highlights the essential role of counseling and behavioral interventions as part of comprehensive OUD treatment while emphasizing that counseling remains the primary evidence-based treatment for stimulant use disorder. Through interactive case studies and discussion, participants will apply ethical decision-making, confidentiality requirements under 42 CFR Part 2, and scope-of-practice principles to real-world scenarios involving individuals with opioid and/or stimulant use disorders. This training is designed for behavioral health professionals, peer support specialists, counselors, social workers, healthcare providers, and others involved in prevention, treatment, and recovery services

Learning objectives: 

By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

  1. Apply the four bioethical principles (autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence, justice) to real MOUD decisions.
  2. Use current evidence, including taper-mortality data, to reason about duration and forced tapers.
  3. Recognize stigma as a clinical-ethics variable across its public, provider, and internalized layers.
  4. Describe how counseling earns its place with MOUD, and why stimulant care is counseling primary.
  5. Apply 42 CFR Part 2 and scope-of-practice principles to case dilemmas.


Presenter:  Scott Luetgenau, LCAS, CSI, Gatespring, Founder & Lead Consultant


Gatespring Consulting was founded in June 2019 by Scott Luetgenau. Scott received his MSW from North Carolina State University and his master’s in social work from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Scott is a man in long-term recovery and Licensed Clinical Addiction Specialist. He has served as Vice-chair of the NC Association for the Treatment of Opioid Dependence, a board member for Addiction Professionals of North Carolina and Vice-Chair of the NC Substance Use Disorder Federation. Scott also provides consultation through SAMSHA’s Opioid Response Network and has developed comprehensive curriculums for NCSU’s School of Social Work courses covering the entire continuum of care for both master-level learners and peer support specialists. In 2022, Gatespring Therapy & Gatespring Learning were launched for further support the clinical and workforce development needs nationally. In recent years, Gatespring Consulting has provided curriculum development and training services to national organizations, non-profits, and substance use professionals on a range of evidence-based topics, including recovery leadership, medication assisted treatment, and workforce resiliency.

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 #GATreatmentworks 

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The Association for Addiction Professionals (NAADAC) represents the professional interests of more than 100,000 addiction counselors, educators, and other addiction-focused health care professionals.


Georgia Addiction Counselors Association has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 7302.  Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. Georgia Addiction Counselors Association is solely responsible for all aspects of the program.  


Registration

  • 3.0 CE Hours, Virtual Only

  • 3.0 CE Hours, Virtual Only

  • that Continuing Education is part of my professional and ethical responsibilities. This requirement is for my betterment and for the welfare of my clients. It is not simply a box to check, but for my professional growth and development as a clinician.

  • that I can not miss more than 15 minutes of a training/workshop in order to receive CE credit, as per the regulations governing CE approvals.

  • it is unethical and unprofessional to be working (engaged in work), shopping, at a restaurant, playing video games, watching tv, or engaged in any other activity that would cause me to be distracted from learning.

  • I may be required to have my camera turned on.

  • to type my name into the chat box at random times.

  • Browsers:
    We utilize Zoom for our webinars. Zoom recommends the following browsers for peak performance: Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Chromium Edge.

    Registration Emails:
    Older Email Providers often have difficulties when emails are sent to multiple recipients. This is the usual practice in sending out information, evaluations, handouts, etc. for our webinars. We recommend that you register utilizing using an email from one of the following providers: Gmail, Outlook or Yahoo. We highly discourage the use of Earthlink, Comcast.net or AOL email accounts for registration.

    You may set up free email accounts with any of the recommended providers: Gmail, Outlook or Yahoo. If you need assistance, please contact the GACA office.

$59.00

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