Treatment Improvement Protocols (TIPs) are best practice guidelines for the treatment of substance abuse, provided as a service of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT). This TIP, published in 2008, is primarily concerned with outlining key elements of programming for co-occurring disorders in substance abuse treatment agencies. A secondary audience is mental health agencies and other service systems that seek to coordinate mental health and substance abuse services for their clients who need both.
Clients are said to have co-occurring disorders when they have one or more disorders relating to the use of alcohol and/or other drugs of abuse as well as one or more mental disorders, diagnosed independently of each other. The TIP begins with an overview of recent developments in the treatment of this large and highly diverse population. Subsequent chapters detail assessment, diagnosis, and treatment at the level of the system as well as specific approaches and techniques.
On the same web page as the TIP are a suite of related products, including inservice training materials and “Quick Guides” for addiction treatment clinicians, mental health clinicians, and program administrators,
TIP 42: Substance Abuse Treatment for Persons With Co-Occurring Disorders (free – online)