The advantages of using a screening instrument to access and diagnose substance user disorder is helpful to a counselor by able to determine what treatment plan will work for her client. A advantages that a counselor also gets with screening instruments is that they are able to see how often the client is having problems with the abuse. Getting as much information with the screening instruments helps get a better picture and also helps the client. According to Cacciola et al. "The addiction severity index (ASI) was developed more than 15 years ago to fill the need for a standardized, reliable, and valid instrument with which to evaluate substance-abusing patients. More specifically, it was created to enable clinical researchers to evaluate
