Anti-Stigma Institute

"Thank you all for making room for me in this inaugural Anti-Stigma Institute training. I was impressed with how organized the training and curriculum was, which will make it easy to put on a training. I’m also impressed with the support you all have offered us, and that will be helpful to new instructors. I’ve looked at all of the videos APF has created, and the quality is outstanding! I’m excited to put on a training soon and will let you know how it goes."
-Captain Kevin

Why the Anti-Stigma Institute Exists

A multi-country study by the World Health Organization (WHO) found substance use disorders (SUD) to be the most stigmatized condition, with alcohol use disorder ranked fourth among highly stigmatized conditions like homelessness and HIV (Room, Rehm, Trotter, Paglia, & Üstün, 2021).

Stigma correlates with negative outcomes for individuals with SUD. Individuals who experience stigma due to a SUD are:

More likely to continue substance use and delay or avoid treatment.
Have higher dropout rates from treatment.
Experience increased psychological distress and lower self-esteem.
Face social isolation and discrimination in housing, employment, and healthcare settings (Corrigan, Watson, & Barr, 2006; Room et al., 2021; Tsai et al., 2019).

Reducing stigma requires improving public knowledge about addiction and addressing misconceptions about SUDs. This is why the Anti-Stigma Institute was created. To help shift the narrative around addiction by providing attendees with evidence-based interventions to improve public knowledge about addiction and reduce stigma.

Join a national network of professionals, advocates, and community leaders working to end addiction stigma. The Anti-Stigma Institute equips you with evidence-based tools, real-world strategies, and a powerful network committed to change.

Fall 2025 Anti-Stigma Institute

The Fall 2025 Anti-Stigma Institute is scheduled for September 29-30, 2025, at The Darcy Hotel in Washington, DC.

To facilitate meaningful interaction between and among Institute participants and faculty and networking opportunities, we intentionally keep the event small, with limited spots. Register today!

What is stigma?

Negative attitudes and behaviors toward individuals with a specific characteristic, like addiction, are also known as stigma. The consequences of the stigma around addiction are substantial. Research has found that individuals who experience stigma due to a substance use disorder (SUD) are more likely to continue engaging in substance use and manifest greater delayed treatment access and higher dropout rates. Stigma prevents struggling people from reaching out for help and isolates families affected by the disease who fear being judged by their communities. The public and many professionals continue to view SUDs as a moral failing, reinforcing discriminatory policies and practices and further isolating and deters those struggling to seek help.

Join a community of individuals committed to ending the stigma around addiction and become a certified anti-stigma instructor for 3 years!

Program Components:

Training on science and fundamentals of addiction stigma to understand and measure stigma in your organization/jurisdiction.
Three-year certification to deliver an evidence-based stigma intervention for your community. The intervention, Responding to Addiction, has proven effective in reducing stigma and increasing SUD knowledge among healthcare professionals, criminal justice practitioners, faith leaders, and other community stakeholders.
Three-year certification to deliver an evidence-based stigma intervention for families, caregivers and concerned significant others. The intervention, enCompass: A Comprehensive Training on Navigating Addiction, has proven effective in reducing stigma and increasing SUD knowledge among families and the general public. Read the recent journal article on the enCompass program published in the Journal of Addictive Diseases.
Training and access to disseminate a stigma survey with a toolkit once a year to measure stigma in your community.
Education and training to launch an anti-stigma addiction social media campaign in your community, including creative assets and strategies for launching and measuring impact.
10 continuing education credits for Physicians (AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™), Psychologists (APA), and Social Workers (ASWB).
Networking opportunities to learn what other professionals are incorporating within their communities to address stigma around SUDs.

Download the Informational Packet here.

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Faculty

Jessica Hulsey, Executive Director & Founder, Addiction Policy Forum
Kayla Zawislak, LCSW, CADC, Director of Patient and Family Services, Addiction Policy Forum

Faculty featured in videos throughout the Anti-Stigma Institute

Dr. James Berry, West Virginia University
Dr. Valerie Earnshaw, University of Delaware
Dr. Mark Gold, Washington University
Dr. Brian Fuehrlein, Yale University
Dr. Sarah Vinson, Morehouse School of Medicine

Registration Rates for the Fall 2025 Institute

Pricing:

Early Bird Tickets (through August 1st, 2025): $875
Late Registration Tickets (before September 23, 2025): $985

Payment and Refunds:

Registration closes on September 23, 2025. Full payment is required at the time of registration. Attendees will have until July 29, 2025 to modify/cancel registration. Canceling before the deadline will result in a full refund minus processing fees. Please note that the deadline for refunds is July 29, 2025.

Spring 2025 Anti-Stigma Institute

We extend our heartfelt gratitude to everyone who participated in the Spring 2025 Anti-Stigma Institute. Your passion, presence, and commitment to changing the narrative around addiction are what make this work possible.

Together, we explored the latest research, shared powerful stories, and equipped ourselves with the tools to break down stigma and foster compassion in our communities. Your dedication to becoming advocates and educators in the fight against addiction stigma is truly inspiring.

Thank you for being changemakers—for standing up, speaking out, and helping build a future where every individual impacted by substance use disorder is met with understanding, not judgment.

Accreditation

Jointly provided by Partners for Advancing Clinical Education and Addiction Policy Forum

Target Audience

This activity is intended for physicians, registered nurses, nurse practitioners, psychologists, social workers, peer support specialists, prevention and harm reduction professionals, individuals with lived experience, caregivers and family members, first responders, law enforcement, and anyone who has a desire to address stigma around substance use disorders within their organization and/or community with actionable strategies.

Educational Objectives

Upon completion of this activity, participants should be able to:

Identify the different types of stigma and how they impact both those with a substance use disorder as well as their family.
Describe the effectiveness of two evidence-based strategies shown to decrease addiction stigma and correct misinformation.
Facilitate a survey to evaluate the stigma around addiction within a community or organization.
Discuss how to deliver evidence-based stigma initiatives to engage the community or an organization to reduce overall addiction stigma.
Review evidence-based treatment options available to treat a substance use disorder by understanding the science behind addiction and the signs and symptoms of substance use disorder.

Disclosure of Conflicts of Interest

Partners requires every individual in a position to control educational content to disclose all financial relationships with ineligible companies that have occurred within the past 24 months. Ineligible companies are organizations whose primary business is producing, marketing, selling, re-selling, or distributing healthcare products used by or on patients. All relevant financial relationships are mitigated according to Partners' policies.

Americans with Disabilities Act

Event staff will be glad to assist you with any special needs (i.e., physical, dietary, etc). Please contact Kayla Zawislak, LCSW, CADC prior to the live event at kzawislak@addictionpolicy.org.

Fee Information

Each ticket for the Anti-Stigma Institute includes registration costs, an institute booklet, a networking event early Monday evening, breakfast and lunch on Tuesday, and beverages throughout the institute.

Early Bird Tickets (through August 1st, 2025): $875
Late Registration Tickets (before September 23, 2025): $985

Joint Accreditation Statement

In support of improving patient care, this activity has been planned and implemented by Partners for Advancing Clinical Education and Addiction Policy Forum. Partners is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.

Physician Continuing Education

Partners designates this live for a maximum of 10.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Psychologist Continuing Education

Continuing Education (CE) credits for psychologists are provided through the co-sponsorship of the American Psychological Association (APA) Office of Continuing Education in Psychology (CEP). The APA CEP Office maintains responsibility for the content of the programs.

Credit Designation

This program offers 10.0 continuing education credits for psychologists.

Social Work Continuing Education

As a Jointly Accredited Organization, Partners for Advancing Clinical Education is approved to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Organizations, not individual courses, are approved under this program. Regulatory boards are the final authority on courses accepted for continuing education credit. Social workers completing this course receive 10.0 Clinical continuing education credits.

Past Anti-Stigma Institutes

Accreditation

References

Corrigan, P. W., Watson, A. C., & Barr, L. (2006). The self-stigma of mental illness: Implications for self-esteem and self-efficacy. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 25(8), 875–884. https://doi.org/10.1521/jscp.2006.25.8.875

Room, R., Rehm, J., Trotter, R. T., Paglia, A., & Üstün, T. B. (2021). Cross cultural views on stigma valuation parity and societal attitudes towards disability. Seattle, WA: Hofgrebe & Huber, 247291. 4. E

Tsai, A. C., Kiang, M. V., Barnett, M. L., Beletsky, L., Keyes, K. M., McGinty, E. E., Smith, L. R., Strathdee, S. A., Wakeman, S. E., & Venkataramani, A. S. (2019). Stigma as a fundamental hindrance to the United States opioid overdose crisis response. PLoS medicine, 16(11), e1002969. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002969 6.