For Substance Abuse Counselors ·
What you'll accomplish
By the end of this guide, you'll know how to use Claude to quickly understand clinical research articles, stay current on evidence-based practices without reading lengthy PDFs, and get plain-language explanations of MAT medications and clinical frameworks relevant to your work — turning 45-minute research tasks into 5-minute lookups.
What you'll need
I'm a licensed substance abuse counselor working in outpatient treatment. I need clinical information explained in terms relevant to a counselor (not a prescriber or researcher). When I give you articles or clinical questions, explain findings practically — what does this mean for how I work with my clients?
What you should see: Claude acknowledges your role and signals it will frame responses for your perspective.
What you should see: A 3–5 bullet summary of the key takeaways, written at the level of practical application rather than academic discussion.
What you should see: Practical, specific answers that connect the research to your daily work.
You don't need an article — you can ask clinical questions directly:
Explain how buprenorphine/naloxone works for opioid use disorder in terms I can use when explaining it to a skeptical client who says they're "just replacing one drug with another."
What is the ASAM Criteria framework? Give me a plain-language explanation of each of the six dimensions and how they're used to determine level of care.
Summarize the key clinical principles of Motivational Interviewing for someone who learned it in training but wants a quick refresher.
What you should see: Clear, practical explanations you can use in client conversations or supervision discussions.
Article summary:
Summarize this clinical article for a substance abuse counselor. Key takeaways only — what changes about how I work with clients? [paste article text]
Medication explanation for client conversation:
Explain [medication name] for opioid/alcohol use disorder in terms I can use when talking to clients and families. Address common misconceptions.
Clinical framework refresher:
Give me a practical refresher on [CBT / DBT / trauma-informed care / stages of change / harm reduction] as applied to SUD treatment. What are the core techniques I should be using?
Supervision preparation:
I have a challenging case: [brief deidentified description]. Help me organize my clinical observations into a case presentation format and identify 3 questions I should bring to supervision.
CEU article reading:
I'm reading this continuing education article on [topic]. Summarize the key points and give me 3 questions I should be able to answer to demonstrate I understand the material. [paste article]