April 2006

Addiction certification program begins 15th year

The Board‑Certified Addictionologist Program begins its 15th year on May 20, 2006, in Las Vegas. Upon completion of the 150‑hour program, (consisting of 10 modules, one weekend each month for 10 months) the Certified Addictionologist (C.Ad.) credential is granted.

Since each of the 10 modules are taught by a different faculty member, all are independent of each other, allowing the participant to begin with any module at any time, and or take the modules in any order they wish. Only nine of the 10 modules are required for completion.

Thousands of chiropractors and other health care professionals have graduated from the American College of Addictionology & Compulsive Disorders (ACACD). Thanks to the program, C.Ad. DCs have become recognized as a primary intervention resource for addictions, the America's leading cause of death and crime. More than 50 million people are affected by the disease of addiction, not including the compulsive disorders such as ADHD.

"Dozens of practical opportunities for the chiropractor are taught throughout the program," stated Dr. Jay Holder, founder and president emeritus of the ACACD. "This is not just another certification program.

This certification program is different in that there are numerous services that the chiropractor can perform after achieving the C.Ad., and this is the only Board Certification available to D.C.s that is recognized outside of chiropractic by other disciplines."

In his own private chiropractic practice, Holder has initiated programs that have been included in federally funded research, and used by drug courts and as SAP programs at local private schools. In addition to helping address the addiction problems of his regular chiropractic patients, he receives referrals from other addiction treatment programs in the area. "I can only conclude that any D.C. could do the same if they only knew how," he noted.

The C.Ad. Program also satisfies the requirement for advanced certifications for DCs participating in managed care programs. Upon successful completion and certification, doctors will have the knowledge and tools to expand their practices into this new and exciting field. According to the ACACD, insurance reimbursement for certain services offered by the C.Ad. may be available even in cases that would not normally be reimbursable for chiropractic or getting on HMOs when slots for DCs are full.

In addition to the C.Ad. program, the ACACD offers a three‑week, hands‑on Clinical Residency Program, with room and board provided in a teaching‑hospital‑style setting.

Holder noted that there are five addictions (work, eating disorders, gambling, sex and drugs) and other compulsive disorders such as Tourette's Syndrome and ADHD, our nation's leading pediatric complaint.

A research study funded in part by the Florida Chiropractic Society, conducted at Exodus Addiction Hospital by Holder and Robert Duncan, PhD., biostatistician and professor of epidemiology at the University of Miami School of Medicine, clearly showed the effectiveness of subluxation‑based chiropractic in the treatment of addiction.

The project was the first research study done on a human population by randomized clinical trial demonstrating subluxation‑based chiropractic's efficacy for state of well‑being and human potential. The project also showed that chiropractic has little or no placebo effect, a long‑standing criticism of our detractors. Such research has established the effectiveness of chiropractic care and the appropriateness of its well‑care model.

The Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, a leading peer‑reviewed medical journal, published a landmark paper on "Reward Deficiency Syndrome (RDS)," which introduced the role of subluxation correction in addiction and compulsive disorders by providing the first scientific model of the subluxation in state of well‑being and human potential to stand up to scientific scrutiny.

RDS is a genetically based syndrome that causes a lack or deficiency in state of well‑being, which is estimated to affect more than 30% of the population. This journal article, authored by nine leading scientists, is 116 pages with over 400 peer reviewed references, and presents an entire section on subluxation‑based chiropractic and its scientific model.

In Feb. 2001, Molecular Psychiatry published Holder's study on the success achieved in addiction treatment through correction of the subluxation using Torque Release Technique. The journal is rated second in the world among psychiatric journals and tenth in the world in neurosciences and is published by Nature which is rated the world's most prestigious scientific journal.

This chiropractic achievement was spotlighted in a Discovery Channel documentary, chiropractic's first positive documentary. The show was aired worldwide over several months, and will be aired again this year.

According to ACACD program coordinator Michael Davis, DC, C.Ad., "Addiction is a multifactorial disease having psychological, genetic, metabolic and spiritual components, The most significant mechanism of this disease process is manifest through neurophysiologic insult within the dorsal horn of the spinal cord as expressed in the 'Brain Reward Cascade,' which aligns itself with the three known causes of the vertebral subluxation."

It's estimated that up to 20% of the US population suffers from the disease of addiction. The cost of drug addiction to the nation (in dollars, loss of productivity, death and the breakdown of the family unit) is staggering. Despite spending 297 billion dollars last year, the government and others involved in the "war against drugs" have found themselves fighting a losing battle.

This is due, in large part, to the lack of meaningful education and training offered to the medical profession. Also, the available medical treatment tool ‑‑ pharmacological intervention ‑‑ is contraindicated in addiction cases, since patients require drug‑free treatment to avoid relapse. For this reason, the chiropractic profession may represent the best hope of effectively helping the millions of people affected by this disease.

Four hundred drug courts throughout the nation embrace alternative sentencing guidelines and are beginning to include chiropractic care. Many already provide Clinical Auriculotherapy and wish to add other effective non‑drug treatments. That means the C.Ad. Program has become a necessity for doctors of chiropractic who want to make a bigger difference in their communities, in their offices, and empty the prisons.

Additionally, the C.Ad. program is ideal for subluxation‑centered chiropractors as it helps fulfill the prediction by the Palmers that "chiropractic will empty the prisons." BJ Palmer created and ran Clearview Sanitarium, to prove chiropractic's role in addictions and mental disorders and serve the sick and suffering of this most devastating disease.

The Board Certification Program offered by the ACACD is approved/certified by: the State of New York, Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Service; the Florida Certification Board and the Israel Certification Board, which are member boards of the International Certification & Reciprocity Consortium (ICRC); and the State of Nevada Board of Examiners for Alcohol, Drug and Gambling Counselors, as well as others.

The ICRC provides license reciprocity services to approximately 44 U.S. states, Canada, and six foreign countries, and all branches of the U.S. Military, and Indian Health Services.

Until recently, use of the title "Addictionologist" was limited to physicians, thereby defining "Addictionologist" as physician‑level Board Certification. The ACACD is the only international educational initiative to offer C.Ad. training and certification to all professions, and the only program that certifies chiropractors in the field of addiction and compulsive disorders.

The C.Ad. program has been held in Canada, Oxford, England at McTimoney School of Chiropractic and Melbourne, Australia, under the auspices of the Royal Melbourne Phillip & Preston Institutes and RMIT University (CARPP), adding to the ACACD's historic team of five prestigious co‑sponsors. Australia's drug courts will be using chiropractors to provide Torque Release Technique to their offenders to decrease their high re‑arrest rates and save lives.

After a century of helping people with their health problems without drugs or surgery, the chiropractic profession now has a program designed to teach themselves and other health care professionals how to get addicted people off the habit, saving lives and families.

The World Chiropractic Alliance's Council on Addictions operates under the aegis of the ACACD and is open to all WCA members.

For more information or to obtain a brochure on this program, call 305‑535‑8803, or visit the American College of Addictionology & Compulsive Disorders online at www.acacd.com.