4 days ago

Why It’s Important to Talk about Cannabis and Tips for How to do it

Presenter: Denise Walker
ORIGINAL WEBINAR: Friday, October 17, 2025

Description 
Up to one-third of individuals experiencing early psychosis use cannabis and one in four meet criteria for a cannabis use disorder. Cannabis use is associated with multiple devastating outcomes, including relapse, rehospitalization, and increased psychotic symptoms. This presentation will describe why it is important to discuss cannabis within treatment for psychosis. Newly available resources developed by Dr. Walker and her team for discussing cannabis within psychosis care will be shared and tips for talking with a loved one about cannabis will be reviewed.

Speaker Bio 
Denise Walker is a Research Professor at the University of Washington, Director of the Innovative Programs Research Group and is a licensed clinical psychologist. She received her doctorate in clinical psychology from the University of New Mexico, completed her predoctoral internship at Yale University and postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Washington. A main area of her research expertise is on the development and evaluation of interventions for cannabis use disorders for both adults and adolescents, utilizing brief interventions (Motivational Enhancement Therapy, MET), longer courses of treatment (MET+CBT), and aftercare. She has been involved in the development and evaluation of the Teen Marijuana Check-Up (TMCU), a school-based intervention to elicit self-referral by heavy using adolescents. The TMCU has been the focus of five clinical trials and is identified as an “Evidence Based” intervention on the NREPP. For the past five years, Dr. Walker has been applying her work to psychosis populations and is the PI of four grants focused on the adaptation of MET to address cannabis use among young adults with psychosis and the development of a family-based intervention to increase positive communication about cannabis. She is also the developer of the CannTalk intervention designed to help providers address cannabis use with their clients who are experiencing psychosis.

Learning Objectives
• Identify risks associated with cannabis use among individuals with psychosis.
• Describe the available CannTalk clinical resources.
• Identify three strategies for talking about cannabis use with a loved one.

Questions?
Email Founder & CEO, Laura Stack, at [email protected]