Monthly Strategies for the Underdog Clinician
Featured Highlight: ADVANCED TREATMENT REFERENCE SET: CLINICAL KNOWLEDGE AT YOUR FINGERTIPS
The gap between what school taught you and what clients actually need has never been more obvious.
Neurofeedback for ADHD and addiction. Psychedelic-assisted therapy trials. Pharmacogenetics affecting MAT efficacy. Brain stimulation approaches that weren’t even mentioned in your program.
Your clients are asking about these treatments. Families are researching them. Courts are approving them. And you’re Googling under your desk hoping nobody notices you don’t know what tDCS stands for.
So we made this.
Six laminated reference cards covering the advanced addiction treatment approaches that most counselors never learned in school—not because you weren’t paying attention, but because these weren’t in the curriculum. Some weren’t even research-backed yet when you graduated.
What’s Inside:
Biofeedback vs. Neurofeedback
How they work, what they treat, FDA status, applications in addiction recovery. Finally understand the difference and when to refer.
Brain Stimulation Therapies (DBS, tDCS, TMS)
Comparing invasive and non-invasive approaches, FDA approval status, best use cases for each modality. Know what you’re talking about when families ask.
Intensive Therapies in Addiction Recovery
EMDR intensives, neurofeedback protocols, ketamine-assisted therapy, DBT retreats, residential programs, brainspotting, ART. Comprehensive overview of intensive treatment options and when they’re appropriate.
Psychedelics in Addiction Treatment – What the Science Says
Current research on psilocybin, MDMA, ketamine, and ibogaine. Efficacy rates, FDA status, clinical trial results. Separate hype from evidence.
Common Harm Reduction Strategies
Safer use interventions, MAT protocols, overdose prevention, non-abstinence-based therapies. Your complete harm reduction reference in one place.
Medications Commonly Affected by Pharmacogenetics
How genetic variations influence buprenorphine metabolism, naltrexone response, methadone efficacy, disulfiram effectiveness, SSRI/SNRI response, mood stabilizers, and antipsychotics. Understand why medications work differently for different clients.
Available in Two Formats:
- Digital Download – $14.99
- Immediate access. Print at home or save to your device. Perfect for quick reference during treatment planning.
- Laminated Physical Set – $39.99
- Professional-quality laminated cards shipped ready to use. Keep at your desk, bring to supervision, reference during case consultations. (Pre-order now for January delivery)
Why You Need This:
These aren’t treatments you’ll provide yourself. But they ARE treatments your clients will encounter, ask about, or be offered. And when a family member asks, “What do you think about neurofeedback for my son’s ADHD and substance use?” or a client says, “My psychiatrist mentioned genetic testing for my Suboxone—what does that mean?”—you need to know enough to have an informed conversation.
Keep these at your desk. Reference them during treatment planning. Bring them to supervision. Use them when families ask questions you don’t have answers to.
You don’t have to know everything. You just need to know where to look.
DECEMBER MISSION UPDATES
Here’s everything happening this month:
- Featured Board (12/1) – Supporting Loved Ones in Recovery
- Monthly Content Drop (12/15) – 2025 Reflection & 2026 Preview
- New Clinician Series (12/7, 12/14, 12/21) – Final blog posts of 2025
- Quarterly Kits – LAST CALL for Fall 2025 Kits! Winter 2026 kits drop January 31st
- Advanced Treatment Reference Set – Available now
- Justice Involved Mastery Series Blog #3 (12/14)
Bonus Special: New Clinician Survival Series – Ongoing
Weekly strategies that bridge theory and reality
This month’s releases tackle end-of-year burnout, holiday boundaries with clients, and the weight of carrying client trauma into your personal life during “the most wonderful time of the year.” Real talk for real overwhelm—whether you’re in month 3 or year 13.
Recent Posts You May Have Missed:
- “I Hate Group Therapy” – How I Went From Dreading to Loving Sessions
- “I Can’t Do This” – When Imposter Syndrome Hits Hardest
- “My Client Hates Me” – When Resistance Feels Personal
“ - “I’m Making It Worse” – Fear of harming clients
- “I Can’t Say No” – Setting boundaries With Clients Without Guilt
- “They’re Going to Report Me” – Professional fear and compliance anxiety
- “I’m Too Tired to Care” – Burnout and compassion fatigue
- “What Do I Even Say?” – Filling 45-minute sessions with confidence
Coming in December:
New posts addressing holiday-specific challenges, managing your own family triggers while supporting clients through theirs, and surviving the end-of-year documentation pile-up.
What Makes This Series Different:
Unlike generic “new professional” advice, this series specifically addresses the unique challenges of behavioral health work. Each post includes the uncomfortable thought, why it happens, what to do about it, and tools you can use immediately—decision trees, scripts, and reflection prompts.
Research indicates that up to 82% of healthcare professionals experience imposter syndrome at some point in their careers. These posts don’t just acknowledge that—they give you practical strategies for working through it.
Follow along: New posts drop every Sunday.
IMPLEMENTATION NOTES
This month’s series tackles the questions you’re too afraid to ask: “What do I do when I run out of things to say?” “How do I know if my note is good enough?” Real talk for real overwhelm.
FEATURED BOARD: SUPPORTING LOVED ONES IN RECOVERY
The holidays put family relationships under a microscope.
Loved ones want to help but don’t know how—and their “help” can sometimes make things harder. They hover. They enable. They ask questions that feel like interrogations. They walk on eggshells. They try to control. And underneath it all, they’re terrified.
This interactive board provides the education families desperately need—whether you’re working with them directly in family sessions or giving clients tools to share with their support systems.
What It Covers:
The Difference Between Support and Enabling
Where’s the line? How do you help without making things worse? Clear frameworks for families struggling with “am I helping or hurting?”
How to Set Boundaries Without Abandoning Someone
Families feel like they have to choose between boundaries and relationship. This section shows them they can have both.
What to Say (and What NOT to Say) During Family Gatherings
Scripts for navigating Thanksgiving dinner, Christmas parties, and family reunions. What helps vs. what hurts—and why.
Managing Anxiety When Your Loved One is Struggling
How to take care of yourself while supporting someone in recovery. The oxygen mask principle applied to family systems.
Supporting Recovery Without Controlling It
The hardest lesson: you can’t control someone else’s sobriety. How to be supportive without being suffocating.
When to Step Back and Let Natural Consequences Happen
Sometimes the most loving thing is letting someone face the results of their choices. How to know when to step back.
Family Roles in Recovery (And How They Shift)
Hero, scapegoat, lost child, mascot, enabler—understanding family roles and what happens when the “identified patient” gets sober and the system has to reorganize.
Perfect For:
✓ Family therapy sessions
✓ Psychoeducation groups for families
✓ Client handouts (“Give this to your mom/partner/spouse”)
✓ Treatment team discussions
✓ Multi-family group facilitation
December brings families together—sometimes for the first time since someone got sober. This board helps counselors educate families on how to be helpful without being harmful, and how to take care of themselves while supporting someone they love.
QUICK WIN TOOL OF THE MONTH
HOLIDAY SURVIVAL PLANS FOR RECOVERY
FIND THEM NOW IN YOUR PROFESSIONAL RESOURCES
December isn’t just family gatherings and time off—it’s relapse season, family trauma triggers, and your clients’ hardest month.
These comprehensive safety planning templates help clients navigate Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s with concrete strategies—not vague “stay strong” platitudes.
Two Gender-Specific Versions:
Holiday Survival Plan for Women in Recovery (8 pages)
Addresses triggers specific to women: comments about weight/appearance/eating, pressure to host/cook/manage everyone’s emotions, body image anxiety, being treated as the family therapist, perfectionism about food and hosting.
Holiday Survival Plan for Men in Recovery (7 pages)
Addresses triggers specific to men: “man up” or “just have one” pressure, being called weak for not drinking, toxic masculinity and competition, feeling isolated as the only sober guy, sports/football watching scenarios.
What’s Inside Each Plan:
✓ Pre-Holiday Planning: Trigger identification checklist, realistic expectation setting, boundary scripts
✓ Before I Go: Preparation checklist, sober support system contacts, check-in schedule
✓ Exit Strategy: When to leave, exit lines, transportation plan
✓ Survival Strategies: Response scripts for alcohol offers, bathroom break plan, dealing with comments
✓ After I Leave: Debrief process, what to do if something went wrong, self-care plan
✓ Affirmations & Support: Daily reminders, emergency resources, meeting finder links
How to Use These:
- In Sessions:
Walk through the plan with clients in November/early December. Help them fill it out together. This isn’t homework—this is crisis prevention. - As Homework:
Send clients home with the template. Have them bring it back completed for discussion. - In Groups:
Use sections as group discussion prompts. Practice boundary scripts together. Role-play difficult scenarios. - As Check-In Tool:
Reference the plan in sessions leading up to and following holidays. “Let’s look at your safety plan—what worked? What didn’t?”
Implementation Notes:
These templates acknowledge reality: December is hard. Some clients will use. Some will relapse. Some will drink moderately. Your job isn’t to judge—it’s to keep them alive and moving forward.
The plans include harm reduction strategies alongside abstinence support because meeting clients where they are is more effective than pretending everyone will stay perfectly sober through the holidays.
Use these in sessions THIS WEEK. Your clients are already thinking about holiday stress—give them tools to navigate it.
UNDERRATED TACTIC: THE “WHAT IF” PRE-FRAME
TURN HOLIDAY DENIAL INTO HONEST PLANNING
Most counselors avoid asking: “What if you DO drink at the family dinner?”
It feels like permission. Like expecting failure. Like you’re setting them up to relapse.
But here’s the reality: Your client is already thinking about it. And by not discussing it, you’re leaving them to figure it out alone—which means they won’t have a plan, won’t have support, and won’t reach out afterward because shame will keep them isolated.
The Problem:
Traditional safety planning focuses on prevention: “Here’s how to avoid drinking.”
But what happens when prevention fails? What happens at 11pm on Christmas Eve when your client already drank and is now spiraling in shame, convinced they can’t call you because they “failed”?
They disappear. They use more. They don’t come back to treatment.
The Solution:
Have the “what if” conversation BEFORE the holidays.
This isn’t permission. This is harm reduction. This is keeping clients alive and connected to treatment even when things don’t go perfectly.
The 3-Question Approach:
🗣 “What situations during the holidays feel hardest to navigate sober?”
(Let them name it—don’t guess. Maybe it’s not the drinking. Maybe it’s their mother’s comments about their life. Maybe it’s seeing their ex. Let them tell you.)
🗣 “If you DID decide to drink/use, what would your safest option look like?”
(Harm reduction without judgment. Would they drink at home rather than driving? Would they tell someone first? Would they have Narcan nearby? What’s the LEAST harmful scenario if abstinence isn’t realistic that day?)
🗣 “Who can you text afterward—no matter what happened?”
(Connection after the fact matters more than prevention. If they drink, who will they reach out to within 24 hours? Not to report. Not to apologize. Just to check in. This is the conversation that prevents the shame spiral.)
Why It Works:
Removes binary thinking: Success isn’t just “stayed sober” vs. “failed.” Success can also be “drank but stayed safe” or “used but reached out after” or “relapsed but came back to treatment.”
Prevents shame spirals: When clients have already discussed the possibility with you, they’re more likely to reach out after a slip instead of disappearing.
Builds trust: Clients know you’re not going to shame them. They know you can handle the reality of their struggles.
Keeps them alive: Harm reduction saves lives. Period.
PAIRS PERFECTLY WITH THIS MONTH’S QUICK WIN:
HOLIDAY SURVIVAL PLAN TEMPLATES
Use the templates to walk through prevention strategies. Use the “What If” Pre-Frame to plan for when prevention doesn’t work.
Both are necessary. Both are compassionate. Both keep clients connected to treatment.
Ultimately, remember that you don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Explore The Underrated Superhero Resource Hub for ready-to-use tools, templates, and strategies that save you prep time and keep you focused on care.
– The Underrated Superhero
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