Moving the needle to promote education and training in substance use disorders and addictions: Special issue introduction

Abstract

Substance use disorders (SUDs) and addictions are a major public health crisis, but health service psychology (HSP) has yet to fully embrace SUD assessment and intervention into the mainstream of its training and practice. This article discusses some reasons for the profession's relatively low involvement in addictions training and service delivery and introduces a special issue titled "Education and Training in Substance Use Disorders and Addictions," published in coordination with a similar special issue in Professional Psychology: Research and Practice. The special issue includes 10 articles that speak to the role of HSP in addressing this critical societal need and present inspiring and innovative examples of how training can be implemented across the training sequence to improve knowledge and competency in SUD research and evidence-based service delivery, thus improving access to care. The articles in this issue offer realistic recommendations for advancing HSP training in this important area.