Description & Objectives

Continuing Education Hours: 1.5 CEs for LPC, SW, LMFT, and Psychologists - NBCC Approved

Description: Adolescents and young adults who experience sexual trauma are at increased risk for substance use due to developmental vulnerability, trauma-related stress responses, relational power dynamics, and environmental instability. For many youth, substance use functions as an adaptive strategy for emotional regulation, dissociation, social protection, or survival rather than simple risk-taking or noncompliance. This session examines the intersection of sexual trauma and substance use among adolescents and young adults through a trauma-informed, harm reduction framework. Participants will explore developmental and trauma-related factors influencing youth substance use, identify the functional role substances may play in coping and survival, and apply practical harm reduction strategies to engagement, assessment, and safety planning. Emphasis is placed on reducing shame, avoiding retraumatization, and supporting ethical, client-centered substance use treatment.

Instructor

Sarah Brown

Sarah Brown is a Licensed Professional Counselor and Licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor with nearly two decades of frontline experience in mental health, addiction, and trauma recovery. She provides services in Texas, Alaska, Virginia, and Washington. She is the founder of Rocky Shores Counseling and Consulting, PLLC, where she works with teens, young adults, and survivors of exploitation, blending clinical precision with fierce advocacy. Her career spans residential treatment, juvenile justice, and community-based care. Since 2009, she has specialized in substance use treatment, and since 2022, she has focused extensively on serving survivors of human trafficking and sexual exploitation through trauma-informed clinical programming and multidisciplinary training across DFW. With over 440 hours of advanced training in DBT, Trauma-Focused CBT, and exploitation prevention, Sarah is known for developing impactful trainings and high-risk youth programming. She is recognized for her direct, grounded style and steady presence in both clinical and systems-level work.