URI student helps those with addictions ‘find other ways to cope'

For Daniel Delaney, research at the University of Rhode Island is personal.
His work on substance and alcohol abuse is driven by having in the past
witnessed first-hand the damage it can cause. Delaney is doing all he
can to help people facing addiction get back on their feet.

As a candidate for a Ph.D. in psychology, he is a graduate research
assistant on a National Institutes of Health study evaluating community
mental health providers’ use of evidence-based practices to detect and
intervene in problematic alcohol and marijuana use in teens and young
adults. Working closely with Professor of Psychology Lynda Stein — whose
own research focuses on incarcerated youth and adolescents — Delaney
presented his findings at the international Research Society for
Alcoholism at the group’s 2017 conference.

As part of the NIH study, Delaney is examining the effectiveness of
meditation for college students mandated to undergo treatment for
marijuana infractions. Meditation helps students learn self control to
override the cravings, he said. For his doctoral dissertation, he
is working with the URI Student Assistance Program to evaluate outcomes
and assist them in quality improvement, using the best practices for
tracking intervention integrity.

“The meditation therapies are used to help people who are struggling with
cravings and urges to use,” Delaney said. “They help students to pause
and take a moment instead of reacting immediately, while also helping to
identify what it is that causes the cravings. Most people get involved
with substance abuse as a coping mechanism for stress. Therefore, the
goal is to help individuals find other ways to cope that will not cause
problems in the long run.”

Before coming to URI to earn his doctorate, Delaney received his undergraduate
and master’s degrees from Eastern Illinois University in psychology.
While pursuing his master’s degree, one of his placements required him
to work in an in-patient and residential setting for those with
addiction and/or substance abuse disorders.

“During that time, I developed a passion for helping,” Delaney said. “But while
I loved working with that population, it was frustrating to see how
many people ended up right back there after their treatment.”

He has since been dedicated to research that will help people avoid relapses, overdoses and incarceration.

“With marijuana becoming legal in more states, there may be more need for
these meditation therapies,” Delaney said. “This would be especially
true if an individual begins to suffer negative impacts from their
substance use.”

Delaney is preparing another manuscript for submission to a peer reviewed
journal on a method to evaluate confidence among individuals to resist
marijuana use. After earning his doctorate, he plans to work in a
clinical environment so he can pursue the best solutions for people
trying to defeat substance abuse.