Date
8-2021
Department
School of Behavioral Sciences
Degree
Doctor of Education in Community Care and Counseling (EdD)
Chair
Richard Green
Keywords
treating cannabis use disorders, clinician’s attitudes and experiences toward treatment cannabis disorders, cannabis use disorders
Disciplines
Psychology | Social and Behavioral Sciences
Recommended Citation
Leiker, Michael Walter, "Clinicians' Experiences and Attitudes Treating Cannabis Use Disorders in Colorado: A Qualitative Inquiry Since the Legalization of Marijuana in Colorado" (2021). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 3125.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/3125
Abstract
The purpose of this phenomenological study has been to discover, describe, and understand the attitudes of Licensed Addictions Counselor’s (LACs) in treating cannabis use disorders by accessing their lived clinical experiences, and discover what regulatory, personal, environmental, social, scientific, legal, or other clinical experiences influence the decision making of LACs who treat cannabis use disorders in Colorado. This study sought to discover the attitudes, interactions, feelings, and other unique factors that form the underlying assumptions, through reciprocal determinism, that inform clinical decision-making choices independently. These dynamics have been ignored in the literature and this study seeks to pursue it with practitioners directly to surface vital data that has not appeared in the literature concerning the treatment of cannabis use disorders. The research findings include information from practitioners concerning best practices in the treatment of Cannabis Use Disorder, but this is largely theoretical and not derived from accessing the attitudes and experiences of clinicians. The attitudes, clinical experiences, and practices of substance use disorder (SUD) treatment providers have been neglected, and yet legalization and approval of medical and recreational marijuana may be of critical impact upon their clinical practice.
