Substance Abuse Assignment 7.
Additional applications and practices
After completing this module, you will be able to do the following:
- Understand the traditional substance abuse treatment elements.
- Explain the 12-step recovery program.
- Know the use of required topics.
- Understand three levels of learning.
- Know how to provide new information.
- Document.
- Understand how to work with adolescents.
- Appreciate the power of parents/guardians.
- Know how to use imaginary audience.
- Know the impact of diagnoses and labels.
- Understand the effects of using psychotropic medications.
- Appreciate Cultural Considerations.
- Know how to comply with mandated treatment requirements
Overview
This module will address additional application and practice issues that come into play when using solution-focused brief therapy in the field of substance abuse treatment, such as how to address traditional substance abuse treatment elements, working with adolescents, co-occurring disorders, and cultural considerations.
- Solution Focused Substance Abuse Treatment: Chapter 8 and 10
- Substance Abuse Treatment, Chapter 8
- Compare the Chinese proverb “Tell me, I’ll forget. Show me, I’ll remember. Involve me, I’ll understand” to the three levels of learning. Explain how you can use this in therapeutic counseling.
- Demographically, populations in most Western countries are growing older. That particular slice of the population in the United States was the first generation to embrace illicit drug use as part of the culture. What proactive steps can be taken to address the problem of elderly substance abuse as it increases with the age of this demographic sector? Or, is there no need?
- Explain the use of traditional substance abuse treatment and compare to solution focused therapy. Integrate a description of the 12-step recovery program, and special considerations when working with special populations.
- List and explain the use of traditional substance abuse treatment elements for one of the diverse populations listed in the textbook (the population you would most want to counsel).
- Explain how to use imaginary audience.
- Fully discuss the impact and implications of diagnoses and labels.
- Outline the counselor’s responsibilities regarding mandated (or coerced) treatment plans, including their legal implications for malpractice and release of information. (This may require a search of your state’s regulations.)
1-2 questions 100 each=200 words
3-7 questions 200 words each = 1000 words
Total for Order 3 = 1200 words
with 2 references from American Psychological Association
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Also to be referenced
9780826195784 Substance Abuse Treatment: Options, Challenges, and Effectiveness
by Sylvia Mignon MSW PhD
9780789037237Solution Focused Substance Abuse Treatment
by Teri Pichot , Thorana S Nelson, et al.
Solution
Substance Abuse Assignment 7
Question One
This is one of the finest Chinese proverbs that reflect most educators’ goals when providing opportunities for student engagement in the learning process. Case in point, in the field of psychology, it is clear that when learners only experience information superficially, they may not be able to encode it. As such, there will be no storage with the absence of encoding, and without storage, there will be no opportunity for retrieval. According to Pichot and Smock (2009, Chapter 8), when learning new information, a learner can repeat information in the first level, and the lecturer will need to regulate more at this stage. In the second level, the learner can paraphrase information, and in the last level, the learner can apply knowledge and use it in a personal context. For a student to achieve excellence or an understanding of a concept, the teacher will need first to inform him (tell him), then demonstrate the information shared (show him) and engage the student in learning the concept for them to understand (Involve him). In solution-focused brief therapy, the client is like a student who needs to learn a new way to overcome addiction. As such, the therapist should deploy an approach that should be interactive and involved so that the client can learn and understand therapy goals and objectives.
Question Two
According to Mignon (2014, Chapter 8), the aging baby boomers were known for substance abuse. The future of the elderly American population will tend to include more older individuals who use substances and drugs. Mignon further argues that since older women can outlive older men, they stand the highest risk of drug abuse. A report regarding substance abuse treatment revealed that only 7% of these services offer specialty for older people. Proactive measures should be considered since the problem now is that older adults misuse over-the-counter drugs and use cough suppressants with high alcohol content. Mignon asserts that there are barriers to identifying older adults’ substance abuse, including ageism, lack of awareness by family members and health professionals, and the complex interaction with general health and mental health. Proactive measures should entail a more evidence-based preventive approach for older adults and health professionals, going a long way to diagnosing and referring older people for substance abuse problems.
Question Three
According to Pichot and Smock (2009, Chapter 9), solution-focused therapists become more knowledgeable and skillful as they utilize their form of therapy. They are sometimes faced with situations that might require them to use more traditional substance abuse treatment elements. Case in point, in agency settings, it is recommended that clients attend support groups such as Alcoholic Anonymous as part of the treatment plan or aftercare treatment. Pichot and Smock (2009, Chapter 9) assert that solution-focused therapists should not stick to exclusivity but also engage in inclusivity portrayed in traditional substance abuse treatments. Additionally, traditional substance abuse treatment advocates for neutrality and solution-focused therapists should also consider the same. The two most common elements of traditional substance abuse treatment relative to solution-focused substance abuse treatment are the 12-step recovery programs and required topics. The 12-step recovery program would help a solution-focused person skillfully use the language of a specific culture when interacting with ac client who embraces the recovery program. Additionally, solution-focused brief therapy should always accept the path that a client chooses. In an agency setting, say working with a pregnant woman, a counselor should make the client understand that use of substance abuse during pregnancy can negatively impact the unborn fetus, the importance of parental care, utilization of proper nutrition, and the importance of parental care so forth. Regardless of the theoretical approach coming up with related topics has merit in counseling, and it is one of the basic tenets of traditional substance abuse treatments.
Question Four
As a professional counselor, I would love to work with adolescents as one of the diverse populations mentioned in the textbook. Adolescence is a challenging population, but it is an excellent population to deal with because there is no room for error. Hence, I will be able to test my skills thoroughly. While working with adolescents as a solution-focused brief therapist who utilizes some basic tenets of traditional substance abuse treatment, I would use the following elements.
- Use of required topics
According to Pichot and Smock (2009, Chapter 8), in an agency setting, therapists are mandated to address the various topics with the clients as part of the treatment. Multiple topics need to be addressed when counseling adolescents while utilizing a traditional substance abuse treatment. These topics include body image, anxiety, adolescent pregnancy, behavioral concerns, academic achievement and future, and underage sex. All these aspects are related to drug abuse
- Embracing neutrality in a disease-based and harm reduction model
Support groups such as Alcoholic anonymous can be important when dealing with adolescents because a counselor needs to take a neutral stance. This will allow me to operate fluidly with a given approach to treatment and build trust among my adolescent clients.
- Embracing inclusivity
As a solution-based therapist, I would ensure inclusivity to expedite the process of change. Inclusivity has been a basic tenet of traditional substance treatment. I would listen with an ear to quickly identify that we do not agree or agree with agreeing on so that everyone is included.
- The need to consider abstinence rather than controlled use
With adolescence, I believe that the best approach is through abstinence from drug use because, at this level, one can completely abandon drug use and save his life at an early stage.
Question Five
Pichot and Smock (2009, Chapter 9) state, “normal part of adolescence is a form of self-consciousness that has been referred to in the literature as having an imaginary audience (Elkind, 1967).” Many adolescents find it difficult to answer reflective questions yet have minimal difficulties when answering related questions. Therefore, a therapist must be mindful of such development facts to make therapy effective. A therapist should allow a client to choose either internally or externally to answer a miracle question. Pichot and Smock (2009, Chapter 9) assert that they tend to answer questions with ease about their behaviors when working with adolescents. When a therapist respects and understands that, their answers will tend to be within the context of others. As such, adolescents are always concerned about what others feel about them, and the therapist should understand these factors when dealing with this group.
Question Six
According to Pichot and Smock (2009, Chapter 9), solution-focused brief counselors assist their clients by looking beyond the current issues to a place where clients’ problems are resolved. Such an analogy effectively simultaneously addresses substance abuse and mental health disorders. In such a case, Pichot and Smock (2009, Chapter 9) argue that there is no need for solution-focused brief therapists to utilize diagnoses and labels since these tools focus on describing problems. However, this does not relate to the fact that solution-focused brief therapists are insensible and unaware of a disorder. They should look further beyond diagnoses and labels and help their client identify and take ownership of their life in which both issues are resolved. The use of diagnoses and labels is not that necessary with solution-focused brief therapy. Still, they are crucial factors when it comes to problem-focused treatment for communication and reimbursement purposes.
Question Seven
According to Hachtel et al. (2019)and Mignon (2014, Chapter 3), mandatory and or coerced treatment entails pressure to enter substance abuse treatment when clients are not interested or refuse treatment. This approach is often used with the offender population. A counselor has responsibilities to play when it comes to coerced treatment plans. First, the counselor-client relationship is a crucial component of all therapy, and with mandated treatment, the client will tend to be unwilling to go to treatment. Therefore, the counselor should find a way to create a healthy and working relationship with the client. Second, confidentiality is paramount, and it would be against the ethical codes for the therapist to release information regarding a client in a mandated treatment plan. This information must only be distributed to the parties involved, such as the family and other health professionals involved in the treatment plan. Last, with mandated treatment plans, it is advised that counselors observe the core guidelines of mandated therapy since clients are resistive and there are tendencies of malpractice. Many states have penalties for malpractice to the extent of taking away a professional license from a counselor.
References
Hachtel, H., Vogel, T., & Huber, C. G. (2019). Mandated Treatment and Its Impact on Therapeutic Process and Outcome Factors. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 10(APR). https://doi.org/10.3389/FPSYT.2019.00219
Mignon, S. I. (2014). Substance Abuse Treatment: Options, Challenges, and Effectiveness. Springer Publishing Company.
Pichot, T., & Smock, S. A. (2009). Solution-Focused Substance Abuse Treatment. Routledge: Taylor and Francis.