NAADAC NCAAC study plan

Map the major adolescent developmental milestones (pubertal, cognitive, identity, and social) across ages 12-18 and write a one-line counseling implication for each

Explain how adolescent brain development, especially the still-maturing prefrontal cortex and heightened reward sensitivity, shapes risk-taking and experimentation with substances

Distinguish experimentation, misuse, and substance use disorder in adolescents and list the developmental and contextual risk factors that shift a teen along that continuum

Identify protective factors at individual, family, school, and community levels and describe how a counselor would strengthen at least three of them

Compare adolescent-specific screening tools (for example, CRAFFT-type screens and brief screens suited to school and primary care settings) and select one to practice administering

Describe how to conduct a developmentally appropriate biopsychosocial assessment with a minor, including separate time with the adolescent and with caregivers

Apply diagnostic criteria for adolescent substance use disorders while accounting for developmentally normal experimentation and peer influence

Draft treatment-plan goals written in the adolescent's own language and linked to measurable functional outcomes such as school attendance and curfew compliance

Differentiate screening, assessment, and diagnosis and explain where each fits in an adolescent intake workflow

Build a referral and level-of-care decision tree that weighs substance severity, co-occurring symptoms, family support, and school functioning

Practice integrating collateral information from caregivers, schools, and juvenile justice while documenting sources and resolving contradictions

Identify at least four adolescent-specific assessment pitfalls, such as minimizing, over-reliance on self-report, and misreading conduct problems as substance problems

Compare motivational interviewing, cognitive behavioral therapy, and family-based approaches for adolescent substance use and state the evidence-based rationale for each

Demonstrate the core motivational interviewing skills (open questions, affirmations, reflections, summaries) in a recorded or role-played 15-minute session

Adapt contingency management and relapse-prevention planning to adolescent reinforcers and school and home routines

Describe how to structure group counseling for adolescents so it is developmentally engaging and safe, including confidentiality norms within the group

Explain how family dynamics, parenting style, and household substance use influence adolescent use and recovery

Compare at least two family-involved treatment models and describe the counselor's role in each

Practice engaging a resistant or ambivalent caregiver using reframing and alliance-building techniques

Design a family session agenda that balances adolescent confidentiality with caregiver information needs

Differentiate screening for co-occurring depression, anxiety, ADHD, and trauma-related symptoms from full diagnostic assessment in adolescents

Describe trauma-informed principles and apply them to intake, room setup, pacing, and choice-making with a teen

Explain how trauma symptoms and substance use can reinforce each other and identify at least three integrated treatment strategies

Identify warning signs that warrant immediate safety planning, including self-harm and suicidal ideation, and outline a crisis response sequence

Explain the limits of minor confidentiality, including when caregivers may be informed and how to set expectations at the first session

Apply mandatory reporting and duty-to-warn obligations to at least four written vignettes and justify each decision

Describe informed consent and assent requirements for treating a minor, including documentation of who consents and under what authority

Identify ethical issues in adolescent treatment such as dual roles in small communities, social media contact, and gifts or bartering

Synthesize all six domains by working through at least 60 timed practice questions and reviewing every missed item by domain

Re-teach the two weakest domains from memory using a one-page summary for each

Rehearse a full intake-to-treatment-plan case from start to finish within a 45-minute time limit

Build a personal exam-day plan covering pacing, flagging strategy, and a short list of facts still needing review