This full day workshop targets practitioners working in specialist alcohol and drug and mental health settings who want to develop an in-depth neurobiological understanding of how psychoactive substances affect the brain and body.
By the end of this workshop learners will be able to:
- Classify different drugs based on their effects
- Understand the anatomy of the brain and body’s messaging systems and how they operate
- Understand the process of pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics
- Describe key neurotransmitters and how substances affect their activity
- Understand and describe concepts of intoxication, tolerance, dependence and withdrawal.
- Identify different routes of administration and how this impacts a person’s experience and risk exposure
- Demonstrate a fundamental understanding of how a substance moves through the body, including concepts of absorption, distribution, bioavailability, metabolism, elimination and drug half-lives.
- How dependence develops and can be assessed to inform treatment planning.
NB: This workshop is a pre-requisite to the Assessing and Managing Withdrawal Virtual and Face 2 Face workshops. An alternative pre-requisite is the AOD and the Brain e-learning, which takes approximately two hours to complete.
