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For substance use and mental health treatment programs

Training for the people who run groups, and for the groups they run.

Built inside a treatment program. Your counselors, peer supporters and techs complete orientation here, then lead psychoeducation groups from it. Clients see the lesson; only the facilitator sees the script.

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Understanding CravingsLive

Thursday Relapse Prevention Group

Present

The Wave: What a Craving Really Is

Cravings are waves, not commands

A craving peaks and then falls, usually within 20–30 minutes. You do not have to act on it for it to pass.

Calm water at dusk, the image in the lesson.
Staff only

Session script

Session opening (5 min)

One-word check-in: how did you arrive today? Say it early and out loud: noticing a craving is the skill.

Check-in 5 · psychoeducation 10 · discussion 10

For your groups

The same group, whoever is leading it

Lesson Plans hold the psychoeducation curriculum for your IOP, PHP and recovery-housing groups. Every lesson has a side for clients and a side for staff, so a new facilitator can run the relapse-prevention group the way it was written.

  1. 01

    Two sides to every lesson

    Clients get the lesson: the reading, the image, the poll, the worksheet. Staff also get the session script, the timing, discussion guidance and answer keys. Staff blocks are never sent to clients.

    Know Your Triggers

    ClientStaff

    • ClientText

      Triggers are the people, places and feelings that bring on a craving.

    • ClientWorksheet

      My trigger map: three places, three people, three feelings.

    • StaffDiscussion guidance

      Ask two or three members to name one trigger they've noticed this week.

    • StaffAnswer key

      External: places, people, things. Internal: feelings, thoughts, body.

    Staff blocks and answer keys are never sent to clients.

  2. 02

    Run it live. Project it safely.

    The facilitator runs the group from one screen: the agenda, the script, the next lesson. The projector shows only what clients should see.

    Facilitator
    1. The Wave: What a Craving Really Is1/2
    2. Know Your Triggers2/2
    Staff only

    Session script · Session opening (5 min)

    Projector

    Cravings are waves, not commands

    A craving peaks and then falls, usually within 20–30 minutes. You do not have to act on it for it to pass.

    Calm water at dusk, the image in the lesson.

  3. 03

    Clients follow on their own screens

    Clients join the session on a phone or tablet, and the lesson moves when the facilitator moves. Clients without an email address sign in with a username and your center code.

    Understanding CravingsLive

    Current lesson

    Cravings are waves, not commands

    A craving peaks and then falls, usually within 20–30 minutes. You do not have to act on it for it to pass.

    Calm water at dusk, the image in the lesson.

    Session Agenda

    → The Wave: What a Craving Really Is

    Client without an email?

    Username

    jordan.r

    Center code

    VHI-2041

    Sign in

  4. 04

    Attendance, and families in the loop

    Mark each person present, late, absent or excused as the group runs. A parent or guardian you link can see what their family member has been assigned, what's finished and what's overdue.

    Participants

    • JRJordan R.PLAE
    • ATAlicia T.PLAE
    • DMDevon M.PLAE
    • KSKeisha S.PLAE

    Parent / Guardian

    Jordan R.

    • Coping with Cravings & UrgesFinished
    • Building a Recovery ToolkitDue Nov 4

For your staff

Orientation on a deadline, with the record to show for it

Turn the decks your clinical director already teaches from into trainings, give them a due date, and keep a signed, dated record for every person on the team.

  1. 01

    Start from the decks you already teach

    Upload the PowerPoint or PDF your clinical director built. You review it slide by slide, it becomes a training, and speaker notes come along as trainer notes. Add a quiz and a sign-off before you publish.

    Title slide: Confidentiality in SUD treatment, new-hire orientation, 15 minutes.
    Slide: Before you share anything — check for a signed consent, share only what it allows, ask your clinical supervisor.
    Slide: What counts as protected — that a person is in treatment, what clients share in a group, and records.

    Confidentiality in SUD treatment.pptx

    8 slides · speaker notes included

  2. 02

    On the clock

    Assign orientation with a due date and everyone sees the countdown. Reminders go out 30, 14 and 7 days before, each saying how far along the person is, then an overdue notice and, if you choose, a note to their manager.

    Confidentiality in SUD treatment

    New hires4 people · Due Nov 14

    Assigned
    1. 30 days leftAssigned
    2. 14 days left40% done
    3. 7 days left75% done
    4. Due
    5. OverdueManager told

    Reminder14 days left

    Confidentiality in SUD treatment is due in 14 days

    You're 40% done. Pick up where you left off.

  3. 03

    Finished means finished

    Every slide has to be seen, and videos can't be skipped. Quizzes have a passing score. At the end each person ticks the statement, types their name and signs.

    Every slide viewed · Slide 8 of 8Knowledge checkPassed · 100%

    I attest that I completed Confidentiality in SUD Treatment.

    Sarah Chen

    Dated 10/15/2026Sign and acknowledge

  4. 04

    The record a surveyor asks for

    Each person's compliance record shows what they finished, when, the score, the certificate and the signed statement. Export it to CSV for the personnel file. Records stay even if a training is retired.

    SC

    Compliance record

    Sarah Chen

    Group Facilitator

    Export CSV
    TrainingFinishedScoreSigned
    Confidentiality in SUD treatmentOct 15100%
    De-escalation & Crisis ResponseOct 295%
    Suicide Risk: Screening & ResponseSep 2490%
    Stays on record if a training is retired

Set up like a treatment team

Positions, phones and paperwork, the way a program runs

Positions you define

Build Counselor, Case Manager, Nurse or Peer Recovery Supporter positions from individual permissions, so a peer supporter can lead a group without access to the client roster.

  • Counselor
  • Case Manager
  • Nurse
  • Peer Recovery Supporter

Peer Recovery Supporter

  • Facilitate group sessions: on
  • Complete their own training: on
  • See the client roster: off
  • View client quiz results: off

Built inside a treatment program

Vital Health Institute grew out of a substance use and mental health treatment program in Ohio, where it trains the program's own staff and runs its own groups.

On the phone in their pocket

A tech on the overnight shift can finish a training on their phone. It runs in the browser and installs to the home screen.

A training lesson on a phone, showing the slide “What counts as protected” and the slide counter.

A certificate for every finished training

Printable, with the date it was earned and its own number.

Certificate of completion

De-escalation & Crisis Response

Sarah Chen

Earned Oct 2, 2026

Coming soon

Plans for other treatment programs, and courses for individual counselors and peer supporters.

Sign in to Vital Health Institute

Staff and clients: use the email or username your program gave you.

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Vital Health Institute: training and group curriculum for SUD and mental health treatment