Outpatient Substance Abuse Case Study

Ellen, a new patient in our agency's outpatient substance abuse program, has come to us with one of the most important challenges a recovering patient/mother can face on her road to recovery. This unique individual has had the proverbial deck stacked against her throughout life. By no means has her path been orthodox as we know of the many unique challenges she has faced from growing up in a broken family to becoming a single mom that has faced physical and psychological adversity at every corner. We sincerely hope to aid Ellen in achieving her goals of which include becoming the mother she always wanted to be for her child, whom she has the opportunity to regain custody of with the help of our agency.
Overall Problem
Ellen had a difficult life growing up. Her problems started when her mother’s boyfriend sexually abused her which made her run away and get involved in prostitution. After that Ellen has lost custody of her two older children, the two other kids were placed in foster care, and her youngest daughter is in child protective services. Ellen has to complete an outpatient treatment and case management goals to be reunited with her youngest daughter is the obstacle she is facing .

Problem
Severity
1
Finding a job
High
2 …show more content…
It is important that the provider uses discretion in conversations with individuals outside of the therapeutic relationship and only report what is relevant to the situation. The provider also should use discretion in documentation of work with the client. Some providers document everything in detail in case they are sued. The provider should only document what is essential. For example, if a client comes into treatment for substance abuse, the provider should document the client's substance abuse history, motivation for entering treatment, any medical or emotional issues that relate to the treatment, and the plan for service (NCBI,