About Contact Legal Information My Cart
The Underrated Superhero Tools for Substance Use Counselors

The Underrated Superhero

Resources
for Clinicians

What You Wrote vs. What to Write: A Documentation Language Desk Reference

Quick Overview

Stigmatizing language in clinical notes is common, persistent, and costly — research shows it lands disproportionately on marginalized and justice-involved clients, and once a word like “resistant” or “noncompliant” enters a chart, it tends to follow the person from clinician to clinician. This one-page desk reference pairs eleven of the most common stigmatizing phrases with observational alternatives that record what actually happened, alongside a substance-use section aligned with NIDA’s “Words Matter” guidance. Each entry separates the fact from the interpretation, so your notes stay accurate, defensible, and respectful of the person you’re writing about. Designed to sit at your desk and be glanced at in the moment you’re charting — not studied, just used. It closes with a simple test for any line you’re unsure about: if this were audited, subpoenaed, or read by your client, how does it serve each of them?
Click to view your resource

No interactive version available.

Resource Details

Format

PDF
Category
Clinical Documentation, Justice-Involved
Best for
This reference serves clinicians across behavioral health who document client care — substance use counselors, mental health clinicians, case managers, and anyone working in justice-involved or community settings where notes are read by courts, auditors, and the clients themselves. It’s especially useful for early-career and newly licensed clinicians, who often weren’t taught documentation language in depth and are still building the judgment to catch stigmatizing phrasing as they write

Tagged

Other Resources

Wellness Map

A printable companion to the Wellness Map. Clients rate eight areas of life from running on empty to going well, connect the dots, and talk through what the shape shows. The session starts with what is going well and ends with one small step, who can help, and when. Based on the Eight Dimensions of Wellness (Swarbrick; SAMHSA). A clinical reflection tool, not an assessment. Prefer to run it on a screen? The interactive Wellness Map walks through the same eight areas one slide at a time, with a group mode for presenting and a one-client mode that prints the plan. Free with an account. Open the interactive Wellness Map →
View resource →

Holiday Relapse Prevention Planning

This two-page guide makes the case for starting holiday relapse prevention conversations in October — not December when clients are already in crisis mode. It covers why holidays are hard for clients in recovery (family triggers, social pressure, financial stress, grief, disrupted routines, sensory triggers tied to past use), then offers specific questions to ask now. The middle section walks through building a holiday survival plan with clients: identifying high-risk situations, planning ahead for each one, building in supports, practicing saying no, creating sober alternatives, and planning for loneliness. It ends with a reference list of key holiday dates to plan for, from Halloween through New Year's Day.
View resource →

When the Work Follows You Home

This three-page worksheet helps clinicians examine what they're carrying home from work — and build strategies for better separation. It starts with a checklist of what might be following you (replaying sessions, worrying about client safety, checking email after hours, dreams about work, feeling responsible for outcomes), then moves into noticing the pattern: which clients, what time of day, what triggers it, how often. The next section offers concrete strategies for separation — end-of-day rituals, physical transitions, worry time, deleting work email from your phone. There's also a reframing section with alternatives to thoughts like "I should have done more" and "What if something happens to them?" It ends with a commitment to one change this week.
View resource →