Substance Use Disorder Treatment — Easy Read

 

You could simplify the three approaches like this:

Approach	What it focuses on	Simple explanation
Biological	The body and brain	Helps manage withdrawal, cravings, and other physical aspects of dependence.
Behavioral	Learned behaviours	Helps people understand triggers, change habits, develop coping skills, and reduce the risk of relapse.
Psychodynamic	Emotions and past experiences	Explores emotional difficulties, relationships, and experiences that may contribute to substance use.

Biological treatment

This can include medications alongside other forms of treatment. For example, medications can reduce withdrawal symptoms or cravings for some substance use disorders.

Your examples of methadone and nicotine replacement illustrate the principle well, although they treat different substance-related problems.

I'd be more careful with the aversion therapy example. It is a historical approach and isn't something I'd present as a standard modern treatment without qualification.

Behavioral treatment

This is particularly important because substance use can become a learned pattern.

For example:

Trigger → craving → substance use → temporary relief

Behavioral therapies can help someone identify their triggers and develop alternative responses.

CBT may help someone learn:

• What situations trigger substance use
• What thoughts and feelings occur before using
• How to cope with stress
• How to handle cravings
• How to avoid or manage high-risk situations
• How to respond after a lapse rather than automatically returning to heavy use

Psychodynamic approaches

This approach asks a different question:

“What emotional difficulties might be underneath the substance use?”

For some people, substance use may have become a way of coping with painful emotions, difficult relationships, trauma, or other psychological experiences.

However, I'd avoid saying that past trauma or unconscious conflict is the cause of addiction. These can be relevant for some people, but substance use disorders are complex and can develop through many interacting biological, psychological, and social factors.

The bigger picture

This actually connects beautifully with the OpenStax material you've just been looking at:

Biological → What is happening in the brain/body?
Behavioral → What has the person learned to do?
Psychological → What thoughts, emotions, and experiences are involved?
Sociocultural → What is happening in the person's environment and society?

So rather than seeing addiction as simply “a choice” or simply “a brain disease,” a more complete explanation is that substance use disorders can involve biological, psychological, behavioral, and social factors.

That is a much more balanced and non-judgmental way of presenting it in your mental-health awareness material.