6 Tips for Schoolies Survival
YoDAA brings you the ultimate harm reduction guide....
Read MorePast YoDAA E Newsletters
YODAA's fortnightly newsletter is a celebration of all things youth AOD. Highlighting new initiatives, best practice, news, events, resources and the amazing youth AOD work being done on the ground. ...
Read MoreThe importance of accurate and balanced info
Many of us are familiar with an approach to providing drug information that exaggerates the dangers of substance use, highlighting a worst case scenario in the hope of scaring young people off trying substances....
Read MoreTop Tips for working with young people using Meth
Does the rise in ice mean workers need to completely rethink how we support young people with ice related issues? Or do we simply need to emphasise particular approaches that have long been in the repertoire of youth workers? ...
Read MoreWhat does "Recovery" from mental illness mean?
Youth workers supporting young people accessing mental health services may have heard the term “recovery” used in reference to frameworks supporting care and support....
Read MoreMental health as a resource for life
If you ask a young person how their mental health is they often answer according to whether or not they have problems. ...
Read MoreWhat is evidence based practice?
It is virtually impossible to support young people, or work in a health related profession without hearing the term “Evidence based practice”. ...
Read MoreCoping with Cravings 101: distraction
Anyone who has ever tried cleaning out a bookshelf and ended up spending an hour reading knows the power of distraction! Harness this power to help a young person cope with alcohol and other drug cravings....
Read MoreSigns and Symptoms of Trauma
Is a young person you work with easily startled or often tense an on edge? Complaining of fatigue or trouble sleeping at night? Do they have poor concentration or react strongly to particular tastes, smells or sounds? ...
Read MoreTalking About Trauma - Coping Strategies
You know a young person has experienced trauma and suspect their distress is contributing to substance use, but where to take the conversation from here? ...
Read More4 Top Tips for Talking About Trauma
A significant portion of young people accessing drug and alcohol services have experienced trauma of some sort. So understanding how to respond is crucial. ...
Read MoreClient-centred screening and assessment
Youth AOD processes and tools should demonstrate evidence-based characteristics of effective youth AOD service provision. How does being client-centred, one such characteristic, apply to screening and assessment? ...
Read MoreWhat is "assertive" outreach?
Assertive outreach is an effective and crucial method of delivering services to the most hard to reach groups of young people needing AOD support. This article explains what assertive outreach is....
Read MoreYoung Women in Youth AOD services
We often (rightly) emphasise the need for culturally inclusive and appropriate practices in our services. But have you thought about gender differences and the needs of young women accessing (or not) Youth AOD services?...
Read MoreStrength-based screening and assessment
As one of the characteristics of effective Youth AOD work, we often talk about strength-based approaches but how is this applied to screening and assessment? ...
Read MoreHarm Reduction
For Youth AOD work to be effective it must be philosophically aligned to Harm Reduction....
Read MoreDevelopmentally appropriate screening and assessment
It goes without saying that a key characteristic of effective Youth AOD work is to work in a developmentally appropriate way. What does this mean in the context of screening and assessing young people? Here are some tips....
Read MoreWhy does AOD work need a specialist youth approach?
Youth AOD work is not simply a "younger version" of AOD work with adults. Understanding how and why a youth specific system was developed can remind us today of how important a youth approach is....
Read MoreWho are youth AOD clients?
Although every young person has their own personal story, exploring the circumstances of young people who access youth AOD services reveals some consistent patterns...
Read MoreWhat makes a good Youth AOD Worker?
Research into effective service delivery, our own practice wisdom and feedback from young people tells us a lot about the characteristics of a good Youth AOD Worker....
Read MoreWhat is youth AOD work?
Youth AOD work is not limited to support provided by specialist Youth AOD services. All youth workers should be in a position to support, in some way, a young person who uses drugs or alcohol....
Read MoreScreening and assessment overview
Agencies use varying screening and assessment processes. Despite this there are some key non-negotiable practices that will ensure screening and assessment is consistent with the characteristics of effective Youth AOD work. ...
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