Alcohol, Tobacco, & Other Drugs

What are Hoos doing this weekend?  Students from the UPC and IM-Rec provide After Hours programming on Grounds, and the ADAPT peer educators advertise fun weekend events at UVA and in Charlottesville through the Wahoo Weekender email list serv.

The ADAPT and PHE student groups promote awareness, provide educational outreach, and serve as accessible resources for fellow UVA students.

UVA’s HELP LINE is a 24-hour free, confidential, and anonymous hotline intended for UVA students and Charlottesville community members, supervised by Madison House.  When you call HELP LINE (434-295-TALK), you will be connected to a trained UVA student who will listen to you without judgement.  You can call about any issue: from stress about classes, to your substance use, to grief over the loss of a friend.

Hoos in Recovery is a supportive, confidential community of UVA students, faculty, staff and alumni in recovery or considering recovery from alcohol or other drug use disorders.  Weekly meetings and frequent social events provide a community of people who “get it.”

UVA’s Student Disability Access Center (SDAC) staff coordinates academic accommodations to foster equal access to the University’s programs and courses. Academic accommodations may include flexibility with assignment deadlines, extended time on exams, note taking assistance, priority registration, etc.  The staff can also offer consultation to guide you through the process, and also can assist in screening evaluations for learning and attentional disorders.

In terms of sober housing, SDAC, in collaboration with Housing and Residence Life, may be able to make on-Grounds housing accommodations for students in recovery or students engaging in substance use disorder treatment.  Contact Debbie Berkeley (dms7g@virginia.edu; 434-243-5184), SDAC Assistant Director, for more information.

Charlottesville sober housing options (outside of UVA) include the Oxford Houses and Georgia’s Healing House. 

Orchard Mountain Recovery is not affiliated with UVA, but provides a range of recovery support services.

Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) has numerous meetings each week in Charlottesville, and several are within walking distance of UVA (and one is located at the Hoos in Recovery House).  If you’d like to confidentially attend a meeting with another UVA member, please email recovery@virginia.edu.

Narcotics Anonymous (NA) has numerous meetings each week, and several are within walking distance of UVA.  If you’d like to confidentially attend a meeting with another UVA member, please email recovery@virginia.edu.

BASICS is available to any UVA student who wants to assess personal risk regarding substance use, explore potential changes, and help reduce the risk for future problems associated with alcohol or other drugs.  BASICS consists of an online survey and a one-on-one conversation with a trained facilitator to receive personalized feedback.  BASICS is confidential and free of charge.

Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) is UVA’s primary student counseling clinic and can meet to discuss your concerns or help connect you to online or on- or off-Grounds resources.  In some cases, CAPS can provide short-term one-on-one counseling and medical/psychiatric evaluation services. 

This Charlottesville community provider database can search mental health providers by a variety of filters including substance use specialty, insurance, and services offered.

UVA’s Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) offers a number of support groups, including the CHOICES group which explores personal substance use. 

This Charlottesville community provider database can search group offerings in the community.

Al-Anon is a fellowship of relatives and friends of alcoholics who meet anonymously to share their experience, strength, and hope, in order to solve their common problems.  There are numerous meetings in Charlottesville each week, as well as online meetings.

At UVA’s Student Health, students can receive a free and confidential substance use assessment.  Based on in-person assessment results and recommendations, follow-up care and options can be coordinated.  Students can email Sean Sembrowich, Nurse Practitioner, at sms4gv@hscmail.mcc.virginia.edu to find out more information and/or to schedule an appointment.

Addiction Recovery Systems: Pantops Clinic offers substance use assessments.

This Charlottesville community provider database can search mental health providers who also offer substance use assessment services.

Prescription medications can be an important resource for treating mental health and substance use disorders.  Medications can provide significant relief for many people and help manage symptoms to the point where people can use other strategies to pursue recovery.  Medication tends to be most effective when used in combination with counseling or therapy.

Psychiatry:

• Students participating in individual or group psychotherapy at Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) may be referred for psychiatric services at CAPS.  CAPS psychiatry services are often brief in nature, and students may be referred to ongoing medication management in the Charlottesville community. 
• This Charlottesville community provider database can search local psychiatrists by a variety of filters including substance use specialty, insurance, and services offered.
• Northridge Psychiatric Services includes licensed and qualified residents who specialize in psychiatry and are supervised by an attending psychiatrist.

Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT):

• Northridge Psychiatric Services is comprised of licensed and qualified residents who specialize in psychiatry and are supervised by an attending psychiatrist.  This location also offers substance use medication-assisted treatment.
• Addiction Recovery Systems: Pantops Clinic offers Methadone and Suboxone (a combination of Buprenorphine and Naloxone) medication-assisted treatment, as well as outpatient counseling and substance use assessments.

Nicotine-Specific Medication Assistance:

• At UVA’s Student Health, over-the-counter and prescription medications to assist with tobacco cessation can be discussed with Deborah Murren, NP (ddh2n@virginia.edu; 434-982-3915).

Meet with a Tobacco Cessation Specialist to explore tobacco goals, personalized quit strategies, and access over-the-counter or prescription medications that can help.

Still have questions or need some consultation for yourself or about someone else, would like help identifying the level of care needed, or would like assistance navigating/accessing the resources available?  That’s okay!  We’re here to help.  You can contact any of the following:

• Tia Mann, M.S.
  Associate Director, Student Health’s Office of Health Promotion
  434-243-2982; tiamann@virginia.edu
• Karen Painter, L.P.C.
  Care Manager, Student Health’s Counseling and Psychological Services
  434-243-5150; klp3k@virginia.edu

UVA Student Health’s Substance Use Disorders Treatment and Consultation Team  offers coordinated assessment, consultation, and outpatient medical and psychological treatment, as well as assistance in accessing alternative resources, such as longer term treatment in the community or residential care.

Students, friends, family, faculty, staff, and other providers can confidentially consult with any of the above resources.

• BASICS is available to any UVA student who wants to assess personal risk regarding substance use, explore potential changes, and help reduce the risk for future problems associated with alcohol or other drugs.  BASICS consists of an online survey and a one-on-one conversation with a trained facilitator to receive personalized feedback.  BASICS is confidential and free of charge.

• Rethinking Drinking

• AlcoholScreening.org

• DrugScreening.org

The Behavioral Health Treatment Services Locator  is a confidential, online source of information for people seeking treatment for substance use and mental health.  The site includes a 24/7 Treatment Referral Hotline: 1-800-662- HELP (4357).

Smart Recovery (Self-Management and Recovery Training) helps people recover from all types of addictive behaviors.  SMART Recovery sponsors face-to-face meetings and daily online meetings.  In addition, they provide an online message board and 24/7 chat room.

Rethinking Drinking offers education and tools for examining your drinking patterns, identifying high-risk drinking, and developing a change plan.

Drugs, Brains, and Behavior: The Science of Addiction: The National Institute on Drug Abuse provides research-based information on addiction, treatment, and recovery.

Treatment for Alcohol Use Disorders: Finding and Getting Help: The National Institutes on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism helps individuals and their families and friends understand available treatment options, and what to consider when selecting among them.  

Seeking Drug Use Disorder Treatment: Knowing What To Ask:  The National Institutes on Drug Abuse offers guidance in seeking drug abuse treatment and lists five questions to ask when searching for a treatment program.

Safer Drinking Guidelines

Smokefree.gov provides practical online tools to help build a quit plan, quit, and stay quit.  Experts are available via phone or live chat.

Quit Now Virginia offers a free hotline with a phone support program for making a quit plan and choosing medication.

The American Cancer Society gives information about quitting tobacco and how to support a friend.

How to help a friend:

• Talking with a Friend with an Alcohol or Other Drug Use Problem

• What to Do If Your Adult Friend or Loved One Has a Problem with Drugs

• What to Do If Your Teen or Young Adult Has a Problem with Drugs

• The National Alliance on Mental Illness, the Family Resource Center, and Drugfree.org also provides evidence-based information and guidance on how to help a loved one. 

• The American Cancer Society gives information about quitting tobacco and how to support a friend.