NAMI Ask the Expert: Good News for People With Mental Illness As the Great American Smokeout Nears OD031

An on-demand video and transcript of the presentation are available here [opens in new tab].

About The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)

The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) is the nation’s largest grassroots mental health organization dedicated to building better lives for the millions of Americans affected by mental illness. They are an alliance of more than 650 local Affiliates and 49 State organizations who work in your community to raise awareness and provide support and education to people with mental illness and their loved ones. Through awareness, advocacy and education, NAMI is committed to building stronger communities and a better future for everyone affected by mental illness.

Course Summary

Practice Level: Beginner

This course, based on the Ask the Expert webinar series by the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), examines tobacco use and cessation among people living with mental illness as the Great American Smokeout approaches. The presentation reviews contemporary evidence that FDA-approved cessation pharmacotherapies are effective and generally safe for people with serious mental illness, and it highlights practical, clinic-ready strategies clinicians can implement immediately. Learners will explore how quitting smoking benefits both physical and behavioral health, common myths that deter treatment, and ways to coordinate care across settings to sustain abstinence over time. The session emphasizes actionable steps and resources clinicians can use to normalize and integrate tobacco treatment into routine mental health care. The course, with an intended audience of social workers, psychologists, marriage and family therapists, and counselors, then presents evidence-based assessment and intervention practices that improve client outcomes, reduce disparities, and can be integrated into routine behavioral health care across disciplines.

Course Format

This course contains a participant guide, practice test, and on-demand video. When you’re ready, purchase the course by clicking the “Add To Cart” or “Enroll” button. This will let you take the test, complete the course evaluation and receive your certificate for CE credits.

Learning Objectives

1. Explain the comparative effectiveness and safety of first-line smoking-cessation pharmacotherapies for clients with mental illness.
2. Describe practical clinic workflows that integrate tobacco treatment into behavioral health care.
3. Identify counseling strategies and community resources that support sustained abstinence and address relapse risk.

Course Syllabus

• Why Tobacco Treatment Matters in Mental Health Care
• Evidence on Pharmacotherapies in Psychiatric Populations
• Operationalizing Treatment in Clinics
• Relapse Prevention and Resources

Current References

Anthenelli, R. M., Benowitz, N. L., West, R., St Aubin, L., McRae, T., Lawrence, D., Ascher, J., Russ, C., Krishen, A., & Evins, A. E. (2016). Neuropsychiatric safety and efficacy of varenicline, bupropion, and nicotine patch in smokers with and without psychiatric disorders (EAGLES): A double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled clinical trial. The Lancet, 387(10037), 2507–2520. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(16)30272-0[opens in new tab]

Baker, A. L., McCarter, K., Turner, A., Segan, C., Castle, D., Brophy, L., Borland, R., Kelly, P. J., Bonevski, B., Baird, D., Filia, S., Attia, J., Szwec, S., Palazzi, K., White, S. L., Williams, J. M., Wrobel, A. L., Ireland, A., Saxby, K., … Sweeney, R. (2024). “Quitlink”: Outcomes of a randomised controlled trial of peer researcher facilitated referral to a tailored quitline tobacco treatment for people receiving mental health services. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 58(3), 260–276. https://doi.org/10.1177/00048674231181039[opens in new tab]

Barua, R. S., Rigotti, N. A., Benowitz, N. L., Cummings, K. M., Jazayeri, M.-A., Morris, P. B., Ratchford, E. V., Sarna, L., Stecker, E. C., & Wiggins, B. S. (2018). 2018 ACC expert consensus decision pathway on tobacco cessation treatment: A report of the American College of Cardiology task force on clinical expert consensus documents. Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 72(25), 3332–3365. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jacc.2018.10.027[opens in new tab]

Callaghan, R. C., Veldhuizen, S., Jeysingh, T., Orlan, C., Graham, C., Kakouris, G., Remington, G., & Gatley, J. (2014). Patterns of tobacco-related mortality among individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or depression. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 48(1), 102–110. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychires.2013.09.014[opens in new tab]

Crabb, A. B., Allen, J., & Taylor, G. (2025). What if I fail? Unsuccessful smoking cessation attempts and symptoms of depression and anxiety: A systematic review and meta-analysis. BMJ Open, 15(5), e091419. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2024-091419[opens in new tab]

Daumit, G. L., Evins, A. E., Cather, C., Dalcin, A. T., Dickerson, F. B., Miller, E. R., III, Appel, L. J., Jerome, G. J., McCann, U., Ford, D. E., Charleston, J. B., Young, D. R., Gennusa, J. V., III, Goldsholl, S., Cook, C., Fink, T., & Wang, N.-Y. (2023). Effect of a tobacco cessation intervention incorporating weight management for adults with serious mental illness: A randomized clinical trial. JAMA Psychiatry, 80(9), 895–904.https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2023.1691[opens in new tab]

Doll, R., Peto, R., Boreham, J., & Sutherland, I. (2004). Mortality in relation to smoking: 50 years’ observations on male British doctors. BMJ, 328(7455), 1519. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.38142.554479.AE[opens in new tab]

Evins, A. E., Cather, C., Pratt, S. A., Pachas, G. N., Hoeppner, S. S., Goff, D. C., Achtyes, E. D., Ayer, D., & Schoenfeld, D. A. (2014). Maintenance treatment with varenicline for smoking cessation in patients with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder: A randomized clinical trial. JAMA, 311(2), 145–154. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2013.285113[opens in new tab]

Gonzales, D., Hajek, P., Pliamm, L., Nackaerts, K., Tseng, L.-J., McRae, T. D., & Treadow, J. (2014). Retreatment with varenicline for smoking cessation in smokers who have previously taken varenicline: A randomized, placebo-controlled trial. Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics, 96(3), 390–396. https://doi.org/10.1038/clpt.2014.124[opens in new tab]

Martínez, C., Feliu, A., Saura, J., Nieva, G., Pinet, C., Raich, A., Mondon, S., Barrio, P., Andreu, M., Hernández-Ribas, R., Costa, S., Suelves, J. M., Vilaplana, J., Enríquez, M., Alaustre, L., Vilalta, E., Bonet Alvarez, J., Guydish, J., Fernández, E., … Ballbè, M. (2025). Effectiveness of a post-discharge phone-based smoking cessation intervention for patients with severe mental health disorders: The 061 Quitmental randomized controlled clinical trial. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 23, 2678–2696. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-024-01254-8[opens in new tab]

Pirie, K., Peto, R., Reeves, G. K., Green, J., & Beral, V. (for the Million Women Study Collaborators). (2013). The 21st century hazards of smoking and benefits of stopping: A prospective study of one million women in the UK. The Lancet, 381(9861), 133–141. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(12)61720-6[opens in new tab]

Taylor, G., McNeill, A., Girling, A., Farley, A., Lindson-Hawley, N., & Aveyard, P. (2014). Change in mental health after smoking cessation: Systematic review and meta-analysis. BMJ, 348, g1151. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.g1151[opens in new tab]

VanFrank, B., Pasalic, E., Oliver, B., et al. (2025). Tobacco-related clinical services and tobacco-free policies in behavioral health treatment facilities—United States, 2023. MMWR Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 74(14), 245–251.https://doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm7414a3[opens in new tab]

Instructors

Dr. A. Eden Evins

Dr. A. Eden Evins is founder and director of the Center for Addiction Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, and The Cox Family Professor of Psychiatry in the Field of Addiction Medicine at Harvard Medical School. She has served as faculty of the MGH Schizophrenia Program since 1995.

Dr. Evins earned her undergraduate degree at the University of Virginia and her medical degree at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston. She completed an internship in Pediatric Medicine at the Children’s National Medical Center in Washington DC and her residency in psychiatry at Massachusetts Mental Health Center and Harvard-Longwood Psychiatry Residency Training Program in Boston, where she was also chief resident. She conducted a fellowship in molecular biology at the Mailman Research Center of McLean Hospital and a second fellowship in clinical and translational research at MGH with Dr. Don Goff. She received a Master’s in Public Health in Clinical Effectiveness from the Harvard School of Public Health.

Dr. Evins studies efficacy of pharmacotherapeutic tobacco smoking cessation aids, the effect of nicotine on cognitive performance, behavioral, physiologic and fMRI ascertained assessments of impulsivity, risk taking, reactivity to drug-related cues and the relationship between cue reactivity and relapse to drug use, and effect of cannabis on psychiatric symptoms, cognitive function, addictive behaviors, and brain function. She has conducted a series of studies that have changed clinical practice guidelines for tobacco smoking cessation for those with and without serious mental illness. She has shown that smoking cessation treatments are safe and effective in people with psychiatric illness, that maintenance treatment normalizes the rate of relapse for people with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. This work has underpinned the removal of the boxed warnings for neuropsychiatric adverse events for varenicline and bupropion. Her work has been featured in media outlets throughout the world including ABC World News, Reuters Health, The Oprah Magazine, The New York Times, Scientific American Mind, Huffington Post, The Boston Globe, and The National Alliance on Mental Illness Advocate Magazine.

Dr. Evins has received three career awards from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and has brought in over $35 million in grant funding to Mass General for the study of addictive disorders and their treatment, over 22 years of continuous NIH funding. She has mentored over 35 junior investigators, many with mentored career awards from the NIH, leads a NIH-funded training program at Mass General, and has authored well over 150 publications, including over 50 publications with a mentee as first author and has one patent that is pending.

Nicole Errickson, LCSW

Nicole is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) in the state of Georgia. She brings over 19 years experience in the social work field, primarily working in school systems as a school social worker and with the McKinney-Vento grant. Over her career, Nicole has had several opportunities to help develop and execute professional development events. Nicole has a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of South Alabama and a Masters in Social Work from the University of Alabama.

Accreditation Approval Statements

CE4Less.com is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. CE4Less.com maintains responsibility for this program and its content.

CE4Less.com, provider #1115, is approved as an ACE provider to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Regulatory boards are the final authority on courses accepted for continuing education credit. ACE provider approval period: 8/8/24-8/8/27.

Social workers completing this course receive 1 general continuing education credits.

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