Highs and Lows: Canadian Perspectives on Women and Substance Use

Highs & Lows draws on the latest theory and research to offer strategies for improving practice and developing policy to support women with substance use problems. It includes contributions from nearly 100 experts in women's substance use including academics, counsellors, psychiatrists, researchers, program administrators, alternative health care providers, women's health advocates and women whose lives have been personally affected by substance use.

Highs & Lows was developed through a partnership between the British Columbia Centre of Excellence for Women’s Health and CAMH.

Testimonials about Highs & Lows are available online.

Contents

Acknowledgments

Preface / PDF

Narrative A Sister’s Story
Elizabeth

Introduction / PDF

Section 1: Taking the Measure

• Introduction
• 1 Women’s Substance Use in Canada: Findings from the 2004 Canadian Addiction Survey
  Nadya Ahmad, Nancy Poole and Colleen Anne Dell
• 2 Gender Differences by Province in Alcohol Consumption and Consequences: Results of the Genacis Canada Study
  Kathryn Graham, Sharon Bernards and Andrée Demers

Section 2: Locating Women’s Substance Use

• Introduction
• Narrative A First Nations Service Provider’s Experience
  April
• 3 Substance Use among Women in “The Sticks”: Northern Perspectives
  Anita Vaillancourt and Barb Keith
• 4 On the Street: Influences on Homelessness in Young Women
  Patricia G. Erickson, Katharine King and Ywit
• Narrative Community Drug Policy Activist
  Nancy Pearson
• 5 Young Women and Methamphetamine Use
  Jane Buxton
• Narrative A Young Woman Speaks of Race, Neglect, Anger and Substance Use
  Renee
• 6 Responding to the Needs of Older Women with Substance Use Problems
  Margaret Flower and Carolynne Cooper
• Narrative An Older Woman Speaks from Withdrawal Management
  Audrey
• 7 No Relief in Sight: Problematic Substance Use and Women with Disabilities in Canada
  Monika Chappell
• 8 What We Don’t Know about Gender, Ethnocultural Communities and Smoking: The Case of South Asian Girls
  Natasha Jategaonkar and Karen Devries
• 9 Group Work with Lesbian, Bisexual and Trans Women Who Have Alcohol and Other Drug Concerns
  Farzana Doctor
• Narrative A Trans Woman’s Story
  Debbie
• 10 Mapping Uncharted Terrain: Women with Substance Use Problems in Rural Canada
  Shaughney Aston, Janelle Comeau and Nancy Ross

Section 3: Interconnections

• Introduction
• Narrative A Young Woman Experiences Polydrug Use and Depression
  Rachelle
• 11 Depression and Problem Substance Use in Women
  Corinne V. Koehn and Cindy Hardy
• Research Highlight How Do the Media Represent Mothers with Substance Use Problems?
  The “Mothering Under Duress” Research Team
• 12 Anxiety Disorders and Substance Use in Women
  Shimi K. Kang
• Narrative A Woman’s Experience of Depression, Anti-Anxiety Medication and Weight Issues
  Meena
• 13 The Relationship between Disordered Eating and Substance Use Problems among Women: A Critical Review
  Sherry H. Stewart and Catrina G. Brown
• Research Highlight Smoking and Disordered Eating among Adolescent Girls: Investigating the Links
  Lorraine Greaves, Natasha Jategaonkar and Lucy McCullough
• 14 Intersections of Trauma, Substance Use and hiv Vulnerability among Aboriginal Girls and Young Women Who Use Drugs
  Kate Shannon, Patricia Spittal and Vicky Thomas for The Cedar Project Partnership
• Research Highlight Substance Use, HIV and Violence Experiences of Rural and Aboriginal Women
  Colleen Varcoe and Sheila Dick
• Narrative Mothering and Mental Illness: The Twin Threads of My Existence
  Doris
• Research Highlight Substance Use as Self-Harm: Perspectives of Criminalized Women
  Colleen Anne Dell and Cathy Fillmore
• 15 Influencing Women’s Substance Use: The Role of Transition Houses
  Nancy Poole, Lorraine Greaves, Natasha Jategaonkar, Lucy McCullough and Cathy Chabot
• 16 Treating Problem Substance Use and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Concurrently
  Pamela Stewart
• Research Highlight Interconnections among Women’s Health, Violence and Substance Use: Findings from the Aurora Centre
  Nancy Poole

Section 4: Pregnancy and Mothering

• Introduction
• Narrative A Mother Goes to Treatment
  Naomi
• 17 Pregnancy, Mothering and Substance Use: Toward a Balanced Response
  Lorraine Greaves and Nancy Poole
• 18 Beyond Shame and Blame: Aboriginal Mothers and Barriers to Care
  Amy Salmon
• Narrative My Path as a Mother of a Son with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
  Janine
• 19 Engaging Pregnant Women and Mothers in Services: A Relational Approach
  Margaret Leslie
• Research Highlight Improving Outcomes for Women and Their Children: Evaluation of the Sheway Program
  Nancy Poole
• 20 In-Hospital Stabilization of Pregnant Women Who Use Drugs
  Sarah Payne
• 21 Reaching Mothers and Children Affected by Substance Use
  Lucy Hume and Nancy Bradley
• Narrative A Mother Protects Herself and Her Child
  Notisha
• Research Highlight Better Practices for Smoking Cessation with Pregnant and Postpartum Women
  The “Expecting to Quit” Research Team
• 22 Risk Assessment and Mothers Who Use Substances: Contradictions in Child Welfare Practice and Policy
  Deborah Rutman, Marilyn Callahan and Karen Swift
• Practice Highlight Shame Reduction: A Model for Training Child Welfare Workers on Best Practices with Mothers Who Use Substances
  Sydney M. Weaver
• Policy Highlight A Women-Centred Framework for the Prevention of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder
  Nancy Poole

Section 5: Responding with Programs

• Introduction
• Narrative A Young Woman Finds Her Path through the Treatment System
  Gabriella
• 23 Mapping Responses to Women with Substance Use Problems in Rural Canada
  Shaughney Aston, Janelle Comeau and Nancy Ross
• 24 Hospitals, Doctors and Pregnant Women with Substance Use Problems: Working Together
  Peter Selby and Alice Ordean
• 25 Addressing Tobacco Dependency in Women’s Substance Use Treatment
  Gail Malmo
• 26 Substance Use Programming for Women in the Criminal Justice System
  Lucy Hume, Brian Grant and April Furlong
• 27 Creating Comprehensive Methadone Treatment for Women
  Lori Naylor
• 28 Motivational Approaches to Assessing and Treating Women with Disordered Eating and Substance Use Problems
  Josie Geller, Krista E. Brown and Suja Srikameswaran
• 29 Challenges in Understanding the Co-prevalence of Disordered Eating and Substance Use Problems and in Responding with Integrated Services
  Sherry H. Stewart and Catrina G. Brown
• Narrative Teaching Yoga at a Women’s Treatment Centre
  Pamela Patterson
• 30 A Braided Recovery: Integrating Trauma Programming at a Women’s Substance Use Treatment Centre
  Lucy van Wyk and Nancy Bradley
• 31 Seeking Safety: Integrating Substance Use Programming at a Sexual Assault Centre
  Sally Gose and Linda Jennings
• 32 Nurturing Fire: Auricular Acupuncture as an Addition to Women’s Treatment
  Christine D. Willette
• Narrative Acupuncture as Part of a Treatment Experience
  Lisa
• 33 Weaving the Voices of Women into Health Promotion Approaches
  Wendy Reynolds
• 34 Sixteen Steps for Discovery and Empowerment
  Charlotte Sophia Kasl
• 35 Responding to the Interconnections: Substance Use and Disordered Eating in Women
  Christine M.A. Courbasson

Section 6: Challenges and Opportunities

• Introduction
• Narrative Community Drug Policy Activism
  Jennifer Efting
• 36 Using Gender-Based Analysis to Improve Addiction Survey Instruments
  Debbie Pearce, Lorraine Greaves and Nancy Poole
• 37 Making Harm Reduction Work When Treating Women for Alcohol Use Problems
  Catrina G. Brown and Sherry H. Stewart
• Policy Highlight Proposing a Mother-Centred Policy Framework
  The “Mothering Under Duress” Research Team
• Narrative Advocating for Sex-Trade Workers with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder
  Barb Smith
• 38 The Silent Addiction: Women and Prescribed Psychotropic Drugs
  Janet C. Currie
• Narrative A Woman’s Experience with Benzodiazepines
  Maggie
• 39 Building a Feminist Substance Use Treatment Service
  Sandi Harmer
• Policy Highlight Two Provincial Frameworks for Women’s Substance Use Treatment Services
  Janine Gates and AADAC
• Policy Highlight Toward Gendered Aboriginal Tobacco Policy
  Debbie Pearce, Ann Pederson and Lorraine Greaves
• Research Highlight A Research Training Program in Gender, Women and Addictions
  Lorraine Greaves and Nancy Poole
• 40 Women and Substance Use Research in Canada
  Colleen Anne Dell

Concluding Thoughts

Index

ISBN 978-0-88868-534-6 (print)

ISBN: 978-0-88868-543-8 (PDF)

ISBN: 978-0-88868-544-5 (HTML)

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