RCA Academy for Addiction and Behavioral Health Professionals

At Recovery Centers of America, we believe it is our responsibility to create a trained workforce and educate the world on behavioral health, inclusive of drug and alcohol addiction. It is our goal to educate over 5,000 individuals each year through our continuing education courses. And it is our hope that these individuals educate, help, and inform thousands more in their professional work, personal lives, and communities. Continuing education for mental health professionals and addiction professionals is one way to do just that.

You can find all the Continuing Education Courses here.

Continuing Education Courses for Addiction Professionals at RCA

Continuing education is essential for professionals in the addiction recovery field to maintain licensure, enhance their knowledge base, and stay current on the latest treatment modalities. Recovery Centers of America is unique in that we offer free mental health continuing education seminars and continued education courses for Licensed Clinicians, Licensed Social Workers, Caseworkers, Certified Peer Specialists, Recovery Support Specialists, and Psychologists, as well as unlicensed individuals in the field of Substance Use Disorders or Mental Health Disorders. Courses are offered by addiction professionals with decades of experience frequently throughout the regions we serve on a variety of topics including:

Trauma in Substance Use Disorder
- The vast majority of people with Substance Use Disorder have also experienced some type of trauma in their lives. This training will help clinicians strengthen their skills in providing trauma-informed treatment to their patients with Substance Use Disorders by increasing their understanding of the effects of both trauma and substance use on the brain and exploring effective methods of helping people heal from trauma.
Ethics in Substance Use Disorder Treatment
- This training will provide education on ethical standards specific to substance use disorder treatment. Specific consideration will be made in the areas of dual relationships, boundaries, self-disclosure, and the use of social media.
Co-Occurring Disorders
- Using adult learning techniques and case studies to illustrate common clinical issues, the Co-Occurring Training offers opportunities for clinicians to discuss common psychiatric disorder or issues that our patients tend to experience along with their addiction. To increase competency, this training exposes common signs and symptoms, what to look for when symptoms escalate, behavioral patterns, specific interventions to use, and clinical blind spots. Other topics covered include: Counter-transference, Differential Diagnosis, Staff-Splitting, and Suicidality.
Intervention Theories and Practices
- This training includes a combination of lecture, participant brainstorming and self-assessment. This training will offer an introduction to different models of intervention and basic skills necessary for an interventionist.
Treating the Family in Addiction: The Forgotten Patient
- This training will explore the importance of family engagement and identify key reasons for the necessity for families to remain engaged in their loved one’s treatment. Participants will explore the historical value of families being involved in substance use treatment, how familiar roles can affect treatment and the messages received by their loved one currently in treatment and learn effective family therapy tools to help engage families.
ADHD in Substance Use Disorder
- This training will discuss what ADHD is and the neurobiology and etiology that increases the likelihood of someone being diagnosed with ADHD. The training will explore the symptoms and strengths of ADHD and tie in how SUD is linked to this diagnosis. And finally, effective treatment options will be identified to help stop the trend of people with ADHD being at higher risk for substance abuse, including working to know the facts, the use of medication, and understanding the triggers.
First Responder Suicide Prevention
Identifying Substance Use Disorder in the Workplace

Meet our Trainers

Scott Weisenberger, LPC

Scott Weisenberger joined the Recovery Centers of America team in July 2017 as Vice President of Clinical Services. In that capacity, he is responsible for creating and monitoring the clinical programs at each of RCA’s six inpatient sites in four states as well as outpatient locations.

He has worked in the chemical dependency treatment field for 27 years and has been an LPC in Pennsylvania since 2003, providing clinical supervision over the years to many clinicians also seeking licensure. Prior to joining RCA, he was Chief Executive Officer and later Chief Clinical Officer for Malvern Institute, which operates inpatient and outpatient facilities throughout the Philadelphia suburbs. Earlier in his career, he was Clinical Director at Mirmont Treatment Center in Delaware County for three years and Executive Director at Kirkbride Center in West Philadelphia for eight years.
His motto: Absolute, positive respect of the patients.

Trish Caldwell - Director of Family Services, MFT, LPC, CCDP-D, CAADC, CCTP

Trish is a licensed clinician, marriage, and family therapist and is certified in both co-occurring disorders and substance use.

Trish has been a therapist for over 25 years and has worked extensively with families, adults, and adolescents with co-occurring behavioral health and substance use disorders in various settings including outpatient, residential, schools, and community agencies. She is trained in DBT and is a Certified Trauma Professional and a Certified Mentor Trainer of Trauma. Additionally, Trish created the first Young Offenders Treatment Program in Delaware County, serving first time offenders with Drug charges.

Trish has been the Keynote speaker for the PAYS Summit, the Suicide Prevention Conference, and Magellan behavioral health conference. Additionally, she has provided in-service training for several PA school districts and has trained law enforcement officers on drug trends for the CIT program. She has also presented at the Annual Trauma conference, the Cape Cod Symposium, and the annual conference for the American Association for Marriage and family Therapists (AAMFT). Trish specializes in ADHD, opioid use in young adults, trauma-informed care, developmental trauma, trauma and substance use disorders, trauma and the family system, family engagement, and substance use for today’s teens. Trish holds her MFT from Drexel University and is licensed and certified in the state of PA.

During her career, Trish has held a variety of clinical and leadership roles. She is currently the Corporate Director of Family Services of Recovery Centers of America, which has sites in NJ, PA, MA, and MD, and provides services to adults seeking treatment for substance use disorders. Additionally, she is a member of the NOPE task force and Partners for Success Coalition, and she holds a private practice specializing in adolescents and young adults who have been diagnosed with ADHD or Trauma.

Robert Strauber, CIP, CAI-II, CFRS, CRS

Rob is an Interventionist at Recovery Centers of America. As a Certified Intervention Professional (CIP), Advance Certified ARISE Interventionist (CAI-II), Certified Family Recovery Specialist (CFRS), and a Certified Recovery Specialist (CRS), Rob works with the entire family unit to help create plans to seek, support and sustain recovery.

As a person in long-time recovery himself, Rob is an active member of the recovery community, Chester County Drug and Alcohol Advisory Board Member, and Kacie’s Cause Board Member. Rob began his career in the Addictions Field managing the operations of a 19-bed recovery house outside of Reading, PA. Rob developed the Recovery Oriented Community at Malvern Institute before coming to RCA.

Recovery Centers of America has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 7002. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. Recovery Centers of America is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs.

Recovery Centers of America is a NAADAC approved education provider (#155307). This course qualifies for 3 contact hours. NAADAC approved CE(s) are accepted by most state licensing and certification boards. Please contact your credentialing board or visit NAADAC’s website for CE acceptance information: www.naadac.org/naadac-ce-acceptance.