Critical Thinking for Addiction Professionals » (1st Edition)

Mike Taleff, Ph.D, CSAC, MAC has worked in the alcohol and other drug field for over thirty-five years, and teaches substance abuse courses at Leeward Community College in Hawaii. He was the first editor of the Journal of Teaching in the Addictions. He has published some 100 articles that address various aspects of addictions studies education. He has also published several books including A Handbook to Assess and Treat Resistance in Chemical Dependency, Critical Thinking for Addiction Professionals, and writes a bi-monthly column for Counselor Magazine. He served on the editorial board of The Journal of Counseling and Development, and the Journal of Offenders and Addiction Counseling. Presently, he is on the editorial board of The Counselor. Dr. Taleff served two terms as president of the International Coalition of Addiction Studies Educators, and presents widely on state-of-the art addiction research, critical thinking, and advanced ethics.

Learn to Think Critically and Make Better Decisions

Addiction professionals make decisions everyday that impact peoples lives. Sometimes these decisions are solid, and sometimes they are the result of flawed thinking, which often results from myths and generalizations that are perpetuated in the field. Thinking flaws are common not just in counselors, but in supervisors, administrators, and presenters, and can lead to potentially negative outcomes both for clients and for programs.

In this easy-to-read guide--the first to bring together critical thinking and addiction work--critical thinking expert and addiction professional Dr. Michael J. Taleff offers readers the tools they need to think critically and make better decisions.

Readers learn:
• To evaluate their critical thinking abilities
• The characteristics of a critical thinking professional
• What drives bad thinking in addiction work
• How to recognize and avoid thinking fallacies
• The ethics and consequences of using critical thinking

"Dr. Taleff has provided an insightful analysis of the kinds of thinking errors often made by counselors. The text should be required reading in all areas of health and human services. The concepts and discussion are as valuable to experienced helpers as they are to novices."
-Gregory Blevins, Ph.D., Professor, Governors State University

Preface

Acknowledgments

PART I: Introduction and Basics


1. Introducing Critical Thinking into Addiction Work


2. Characteristics of the Critical Thinking Professional


3. Poor Thinking in Addiction Work: From the Individual to the Field


4. Evaluating Your Critical Thinking Abilities


5. Learning the Basics of Critical Thinking


6. What Drives Bad Thinking?

PART II: Fallacies and Final Thoughts


7. A Crash Course in Fallacies


8. Fallacies That Appeal to Authority and Irrelevant Fallacies


9. Causal Fallacies and Weak Inductions


10. Fallacies That Presume a Conclusion Before It Is Proven and Classification Fallacies


11. Fallacies Caused by Perception Problems and Fallacies of Manner and Style


12. The Ethics and Professional Consequences of Using Critical Thinking

Glossary

References

Index