Practitioner Training Materials and Resources

Addiction Technology Transfer Center (ATTC) Network is a multidisciplinary, free resource for professionals in the field of SUD treatment and recovery.

The ATTCs support both national and regional activities to develop trainings and tools for practitioners to improve the quality-of-service delivery and provides intensive TA on the delivery of SUD treatment and recovery services to practitioner organizations to help improve their processes and practices.

Opioid Response Network (ORN) – is a coalition of nearly 50 national organizations, representing more than 2 million constituents, that offers free TA, tailored education, training, and educational resources to communities, coalitions, organizations, and group practices on the integration of services for OUD and including the use of MOUD in other care settings.

ORN offers universal, responsive/targeted, and implementation/intensive TA across the country. The Implementation/Intensive TA team includes the competencies, scopes of practice (e.g., medicine, nursing, pharmacy, social work, counseling, peer services, etc.), and skills needed to reflect the spectrum of evidence-based practices across prevention, treatment, and recovery, including overdose prevention.

Providers Clinical Support System – Medications for Opioid Use Disorders (PCSS-MOUD) is a national training, guidance, and clinical mentoring program to enhance the capacity of healthcare and counseling professionals to identify and treat OUD and integrate MOUD into their practices. PCSS-MOUD provides:

• Free trainings to practitioners to provide effective, evidence-based medication treatments to patients with OUD in various care settings, as well as psychiatry and pain management.
• A free mentoring program to support practitioners in utilizing a national network of trained clinicians with expertise in treating SUDs, co-occurring mental disorders, and pain management. There are three levels of mentoring support available.
  • Ask a Clinical Question provides a simple and direct way for practitioners to receive answers related to SUD, OUD, and other related topics via email.
  • One-on-One Mentoring provides individualized guidance via email, phone, or in-person (if possible) on specific clinical questions.
  • Discussion Forum moderated by addiction specialists, where health professionals can post questions and receive answers from clinical experts and other colleagues.

SAMHSA also funds:

• Providers Clinical Support System – Medications for Alcohol Use Disorders (PCSS-MAUD), providing free training, guidance, and clinical mentoring on the prevention, diagnoses, and treatment of AUD.
• Providers Clinical Support System–Universities (PCSS–Universities) – An integrated SUD core curriculum for all medical and health professions to ensure every student is educated on SUD.
• Rural Opioid Technical Assistance Regional Centers (ROTA-R) – Offer training and technical assistance addressing opioid and stimulant use affecting rural communities.

Explore and identify the MOUD protocols and processes that best suit your type of practice. Tailor them to meet the unique needs of your patients and save lives.

Learn more about Provider Support.

• Opioid Use Disorder Diagnosis: This webpage provides information on identifying and diagnosing SUD in your patients.
• Caring for Women with Opioid Use Disorder: A Toolkit for Organization Leaders and Providers: This Toolkit provides information on the unique care needs of women with OUD that require a broad range of medical, behavioral health, and social services to meet these needs in support of their recovery goals.
• Clinical Guidance for Treating Pregnant and Parenting Women with Opioid Use Disorder and Their Infants: This Guide provides comprehensive, national guidance for optimal management of pregnant and parenting women with opioid use disorder and their infants. The Guide helps healthcare professionals and patients determine the most clinically appropriate action for a particular situation and informs individualized treatment decisions.
• Review SAMHSA’s resources on co-occurring disorders and other health conditions.
• Review resources to address co-occurring mental disorders, physical conditions, and social determinants of health.
• Knowledge Application Program (KAP) supports the professional development of behavioral health workers and provides information and resources on best practices.
• Core Curriculum Integration in Healthcare Profession Education expands on the substance use disorder (SUD) health professions workforce through development of a core curriculum on SUD.
• Read Medications for Opioid Use Disorder Save Lives report from the National Academies.
• Use NIDA-validated screening tools to assess patients for SUD and to determine the appropriate level of care.
• If you are unfamiliar with motivational interviewing techniques, consider taking and encouraging your team members to take the Providers Clinical Support System–MOUD Training Course 9: Principles of Motivational Interviewing.
• Another useful resource on motivational interviewing and the treatment of SUD is the SAMHSA Advisory: Using Motivational Interviewing in Substance Use Disorder Treatment (based on TIP 35).
• Screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment (SBIRT) is an effective approach for substance use intervention. For a comprehensive understanding of SBIRT, you can explore SAMHSA’s SBIRT page.
• Navigating Mental Health and Substance Use Care: An Introductory Guide for Families
• Associations Between Maternal Opioid Use Disorder Treatment and Pregnancy Outcomes

• The Agency for Health Care Research and Quality (AHRQ) Integration Academy’s Medications for Opioid Use Disorder Playbook, is an interactive, web-based product that has the latest guidance, tools, resources, tips, and examples that address key aspects of MOUD implementation.
• The National Council for Mental Wellbeing’s Center of Excellence for Integrated Health Solutions, offers the newest evidence-based resources, tools and support for practitioners working to integrate primary and behavioral health care.
• Behavioral Health Integration in Physician Practices offers webinars on demand and other resources to catalyze effective and sustainable integration of behavioral and mental health care into physician practices.
• Linking People with Opioid Use Disorder to Medication Treatment offers strategies to support linkage to care for clinicians and service practitioners.
• Actively debunk myths and share accurate information about MOUD.
• Anti-Stigma Toolkit (PDF | 3.5 MB) was created for behavioral health prevention and treatment practitioners, recovery community organizations, families, and individuals affected by behavioral health disorders. The toolkit provides practical information and tools for enhancing capacity to engage in effective stigma reduction efforts.
• AHRQ’s Office of Women’s Health hosts a website that provides tools and toolkits for healthcare practitioners to help women with OUD. Visit HRSA’s Supporting Care for Women with Opioid Use Disorder for more information.
• Office-based opioid treatment (OBOT) programs allow practitioners to expand access to MOUD by offering treatment in offices, rather than in traditional treatment clinics. To get started implementing an OBOT MOUD program, visit NIDA’s Medication Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder in the Primary Care Setting webpage.
• Integrating Substance Use Disorder Prevention with Physical Health Care: Progress in States

Collaborative Networks

• Multidisciplinary Teams: Partner with other healthcare practitioners to create coordinated care plans.
• Referral Systems: Build and maintain referral networks with MOUD prescribers and other behavioral health services. Connect with practitioners through the ORN for local guidance and training resources.

• SAMHSA's Technical Assistance and Training Directory offers free support to those working in the field on topics across the behavioral health spectrum. This includes assistance for states, tribes, non-profits, communities, health care professionals, and behavioral health specialties including licensed clinicians and peer support specialists.
• For those working in rural settings, the Rural Health Information (RHI) Hub provides pages on the latest news, events, resources, and funding related to SUD.
• Practitioners can use the Rural SUD Info Center to access a wide range of free, evidence-based resources tailored to rural communities, including webinar recordings; resource guides; and best practices for prevention, treatment, and recovery from SUD.

• The Facts about Buprenorphine for Treatment of Opioid Addiction
• Medication for the Treatment of Alcohol Use Disorder: A Brief Guide
• SAMHSA's Overdose Prevention and Response Toolkit
• TIP 63: Medications for Opioid Use Disorder
• Buprenorphine Quick Start Guide (PDF | 1.4 MB)
• Buprenorphine Pocket Guide (PDF | 200 KB)
• Advisory: Low Barrier Models of Care for Substance Use Disorders
• Advisory: Opioid Therapy in Patients with Chronic Noncancer Pain Who Are in Recovery From Substance Use Disorders (Based on: Treatment Improvement Protocol (TIP) 54, Managing Chronic Pain in Adults With or in Recovery From Substance Use Disorders)
• Advisory: Evidence-Based, Whole-Person Care of Pregnant Women Who Have Opioid Use Disorder
• Practical Tools for Prescribing and Promoting Buprenorphine in Primary Care Settings