Rates of trauma-informed counseling at substance abuse treatment facilities: reports from over 10,000 programs

Trauma-informed treatment increasingly is recognized as an important component of service delivery. This study examined differences in treatment-related characteristics of facilities that offer moderate or high levels of trauma-informed counseling versus those that offer no or low levels of such counseling.

Responses from 13,223 substance abuse treatment facilities surveyed in 2009 by the National Survey of Substance Abuse Treatment Services (NSSATS) were used.

A majority (66.6%) of facilities reported using trauma counseling sometimes or always or often. Facilities that provided moderate or high levels of trauma counseling were more likely to provide additional treatment services, such as disease testing and specialized group therapy, as well as child care, employment counseling, and other ancillary services.

A majority of facilities reported provision of trauma counseling. Additional training and resources may be needed for programs that reported low rates of trauma counseling.