A new field in health care: Addiction psychotherapy

The subject of the draft regulation is the introduction of a new field applicable in health care - addiction psychotherapy , in which interested persons will be able to undergo specialist training. The above will contribute to the improvement of health care in the field of addiction treatment.

The Act of 17 November 2021 amending the Public Health Act and some other acts (Journal of Laws item 2469) takes into account changes in the addiction training system, which from 1 January 2022 are conducted by National Center for Counteracting Addictions.

These changes are part of the current system of training and obtaining the title of specialist in specific areas of health care, introduced by the Act of February 24, 2017 on obtaining the title of specialist in fields applicable to health care, and will contribute to the coordination of the training system in specific areas of health care. in the field of addiction, in which there are currently three paths to obtain a certificate from January 1, 2022, conducted by the National Center for Counteracting Addiction (two operated until December 31, 2021 by KBPN, and one by the State Agency for Solving Alcohol Problems).

The location of the training system in the field of addiction psychotherapy in the existing training system will contribute to obtaining transparent and standardized conditions and the procedure for obtaining accreditation to conduct specialized training in the field of addiction psychotherapy. The existing regulations were much more general and did not refer to many important aspects in the process of obtaining accreditation to conduct training. The provisions of the Act of July 29, 2005 on counteracting drug addiction did not provide detailed regulations regarding the content of education in the field of addiction psychotherapy. The provisions of the Act of February 24, 2017 on obtaining the title of specialist in areas applicable in health care indicate clear standards for the development of the content of education and the manner of its implementation, and regulate the method of supervising the training provided, which is in no way regulated in the existing system addiction training.

A person with the title of specialist in addiction psychotherapy will be prepared to conduct psychotherapy of people with disorders related to the use of alcohol, narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and new psychoactive substances, disorders of habits and drives, and their relatives. This solution will result in the fact that the health care system will be enriched with highly specialized medical staff who will provide guaranteed benefits in the field of addiction treatment in stationary, day and outpatient conditions. Education conducted in the form of specialization training will ensure full supervision over the quality of education and the competences of future specialists. Specialization training would be conducted in accredited units, based on the specialization program approved by the minister responsible for health.