All sessions are held at the Counseling, Testing and Career Center located in Simmons Hall 306, and are limited to 12 persons. Currently scheduled times for Fall, 2008 are:

Discussing Our Choices

Discussing Our Choices1 (DOC) is designed for students who who want unbiased information about alcohol and drugs, and are interested in exploring their own choices about alcohol and drug use. The program will satisfy an educational experience requirement from Judicial Affairs. Since the program is educational in format, the presenters take no position on what the participants choose for themselves.

Call 330-972-7082 to register for the workshop.

When and where is it held and how do I sign up?

Who runs the sessions?

All sessions are run by professional staff at the Counseling, Testing and Career Center.

Is it confidential?

Yes. The program is confidential as per the rules for psychologists. This means that if a student wants us to inform anyone that he or she attended, we would have to have written instructions to do so. Without written instructions to disclose your attendance, we will not even acknowledge we know who you are to outside persons. We will have a confidentiality form for you to fill out at the beginning of the session if you would like us to inform anyone of your presence. We do not relate what transpired or what you said, only that you participated in the program. Note that while we ask all the students participating in the workshop to keep what they hear confidential, the other students are not bound by the confidentiality rules that the staff must follow.

How long is the program?

No more than two hours

What is covered in the workshop?

• In the introduction we cover the confidentiality issue, describe the workshop, and briefly ask each person why he or she is attending.
• Second, there is a brief lecture about what constitutes safer alcohol use, what constitutes abuse patterns, and a brief assessment of the participant's use of alcohol and other drugs. You do not have to tell anyone how you scored including the staff. At the end of the second section you should be able to actually do a rudimentary substance abuse assessment because you know what is involved in substance abuse (and what isn't).
• Third is a discussion of the actual drinking and drug use practices of University of Akron students. We attempt to arrive at a definition of "what is normal." Data comes from over 15 years of CORE studies of drinking and drug use patterns at the University of Akron.
• Fourth we would like students to share why they were referred and any decisions they are considering based on what was learned today.
• Fifth is a summary of what happened in the workshop, and an evaluation by the students of the program.

Does the program attempt to sell any particular point of view?

No particular point of view is presented in the workshop. The decision about what each student plans to do around substance use is his or hers to make. The format of the workshop is around presenting information and allowing the student to decide what is best for him or her.

Do I have to be referred by Judicial Affairs to attend?

No. Anyone can attend on a voluntary basis. If a student is mandated by a court to attend an "education program," attendance at this educational group may be sufficient. The court mandating the education program will be informed of the student's participation if the student directs us to do so in writing. If you choose to keep your attendance confidential, no one will be informed of your presence.

If I need more information, who should I contact?

Marc Silling, Ph.D. email: smarc@uakron.edu phone: 330-972-7084

1
The University of Akron's "Discussing our Choices" program is based on the University at Albany's award winning "Discussing our Choices" program, originally developed by Daniel Trujillo, PhD. Special thanks to Emily Mowry, PhD (Ohio Wesleyan University) and Flora Casallas, Psy.D., CASAC (University at Albany) for their help in developing this program.