During the COVID-19 pandemic, social distancing measures have made in-person mutual help groups inaccessible to many individuals struggling with substance use disorders (SUDs). Prior to the pandemic, stakeholders in our community had sponsored a program to train volunteers to facilitate local Self-Management and Recovery Training (SMART Recovery) groups. As a result, the community established seven weekly SMART Recovery groups, which more than 200 community members attended. In March 2020, the community discontinued these groups due to the COVID-19 pandemic. To provide SMART Recovery during social distancing, we developed a one-on-one phone-in service for people with SUDs and addictions: the SMART Recovery Line (SMARTline). In this paper, we share our experience training volunteers to facilitate SMART Recovery groups and SMARTline. As a result of our experience, we have learned to: (1) establish plans in advance to migrate services from face-to-face settings to remote platforms; (2) consider remote platforms that are easily accessible to the greatest number of individuals; (3) include as many stakeholders in the planning process as possible; (4) consider recruiting volunteers to help in the provision of services, especially since many people want to help fellow community members during crises; and (5) anticipate and prepare for crises well before they occur.

United States military veterans experience a wide range of post-deployment psychological problems, including disproportionate rates of PTSD, depression, and high-risk drinking. First-line psychological treatments for these conditions (e.g., cognitive-behavioral therapy) are effective but can be lengthy and intensive, leading many veterans to drop out of treatment. A novel brief multimodal group treatment program has been developed as an alternative to these first-line treatments. It was hoped that this brief treatment would exhibit lower dropout compared to lengthier first-line treatments, while still helping veterans learn emotion-regulation and interpersonal skills to reduce symptoms of PTSD, depression, and high-risk drinking. Cohorts of up to 18 group members meet for this five-day program that integrates cognitive-behavioral instruction, mindfulness practice, and emotion-focused principles into didactic and experiential group activities. For several years pretreatment and posttreatment follow-up data have been collected from group members, including symptoms of moral injury, posttraumatic stress, depression, and high-risk drinking. We report pilot data from 50 veterans who participated in this program and completed a posttreatment follow-up survey and program evaluation. Scores on measures of posttraumatic stress, depression, and high-risk drinking were significantly reduced at posttreatment follow-up. The dropout rate for this program (2.9%) was lower than veterans’ average dropout rate across all types of PTSD treatment (36%). Veterans’ perceptions of the program are discussed. Based on these findings, we discuss implications for working with veterans in brief multimodal group treatments and conducting research on these interventions.

Gaming Disorder was recently included in the 11 th Edition of the International Classification of Diseases and Internet Gaming Disorder may be introduced in the sixth edition of The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual . Much is not understood about how problems with video games develop. This qualitative study aimed to better understand the development of problematic gaming through focus groups. Eleven young adult “frequent gamers,” twelve young adult “non-frequent or non-gamers,” and five older adult “non-gamers” discussed vulnerabilities and risk factors of problematic gaming. Participants across all groups believed that problematic gaming developed when people used video games as a primary means of meeting basic psychological needs that were unsatisfied, thwarted, or blocked outside of video games. Frequent and non-frequent gamers, compared to older adult non-gamers, were more likely to view video games as a healthy way to meet basic psychological needs and less likely to stereotype gamers. Video games are equipped to meet basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness. That is, gamers often experience a sense of agency, skill, and connection to others when playing video games. However, problematic gaming may develop when people with unmet psychological needs rely exclusively on video games to meet them. Treatment and prevention approaches to problematic gaming can benefit from greater attention to helping at risk individuals meet needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness outside of video games.