Program Overview

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Addiction Recovery (M.Sc./P.Grad.Dip)

NFQ Level 9

Overview

This M.Sc. in Addiction Recovery course is the first of its kind in Ireland, with no identical course offered internationally. The interdisciplinary collective strengths of the School of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, regarding lecture provision from the Schools of Pharmacy and Health Service Executive, as well as other leading addiction practitioners within non-statutory services, are unprecedented.

The course content will be underpinned by the integration of pioneering research in the field of Addiction Recovery to ensure the focus of the material delivered is current, evidenced-based research, which will, in turn, inform evidenced-based best practice.

The course aims to bring the core theory of Addiction Recovery (AR) to health and social care students and to support the application of the AR model in the health and social care domains of practice; to critically appraise and analyse the factors impeding implementation of an AR model in a variety of settings; and to foster multidisciplinary learning in an academic setting where the multi-disciplinary and multi-organisational backgrounds of the students will be developed as a source of learning.

The teaching staff includes clinicians and service providers who are at the forefront of Addiction Recovery treatment, research, and policy in Ireland. The course is offered by the Discipline of Public Health and Primary Care at the School of Medicine, Trinity College Dublin, with a range of teaching from leading experts from across Trinity College as well as leading clinicians, the Health Service Executive. The course is a fusion between Public Health, Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience.

Is This Course For Me?

This course will be of interest to those who have responsibility for delivery and implementation of addiction services. The aim of this interdisciplinary course is to provide high-quality training for health and social care practitioners in the theoretical and practical aspects of Addiction Recovery. The programme will have a strong component of action learning in the workplace. The course will also provide students with an opportunity to critically explore and evaluate the emerging field of Addiction Recovery. Graduates of this course will be expected to promote and develop excellence in the field of addiction recovery.

Career Opportunities

Graduates of the course are able to demonstrate a range of skills necessary to work in treatment and prevention services, health and community service management, research, education, and training; and other services for people with addiction issues.

Course Structure

The course comprises 90 ECTS credits and runs full-time over one year or part-time over two years. Course attendance, for the full-time option, comprises 12 three-day blocks between September-May (Tuesday to Thursday) to facilitate work release. Each course attendance day consists of six hours of lectures sessions, workshops, or tutorials. The part-time option will have six blocks of three days from September-May over two years with a dissertation at the end of Year Two.

Course Content

The course comprises twelve taught modules and a dissertation module.

• Current and Historical Approaches to the Theory and Treatment of Addiction
• Basic Concepts and Policy in Recovery
• Research Methodology 1
• Research Methodology 2
• Substance Addiction Psychopharmacology
• Neurobiology of Addiction
• Social Policies and Social Context of Addiction Recovery
• Theory, Techniques, and Interventions
• Clinical Application of Evidenced-Based Intervention
• Mental Health and Clinical Evidence-Based Application 1
• Health and Clinical Evidence-Based Application 2 (with an emphasis on Adolescent Populations)
• Implementation Strategies

Course Details

Awards

NFQ Level 9

Number of Places

20 Places

Next Intake

September 2025

Course Coordinator

Dr. Jo-Hanna Ivers

Course Director

Professor Joe Barry

Closing Date

31st July 2025

Admission Requirements

Prospective students will have graduated with a degree in a health or social care-related discipline at a minimum 2.1 level, and will have at least three years of professional experience. Other applications may be considered in exceptional circumstances, based on workplace experience. In the case of applicants with no professional experience, a submission may be considered by the course committee where the student can secure placement for the duration of the course and the course committee are satisfied that the student will adequately benefit from completing the course.

English Language Requirements

All applicants to Trinity are required to provide official evidence of proficiency in the English language. Applicants to this course are required to meet Band B (Standard Entry) English language requirements.

Course Fees

For a full list of postgraduate fees, the information is available upon request.

Related Courses

• Applied Clinical Neuropsychology (M.Sc.)
• Health Policy and Management (M.Sc.)
• Psychoanalytic Studies (M.Phil. / P.Grad.Dip.)
• Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy (M.Sc. / P.Grad. Dip.)
• Neuroscience (M.Sc.)