Substance Use Disorders: A Case Study

Improved Essays
Why is group treatment the most common format for the delivery of services to individuals and families recovering from substance use disorder?

Group treatment is designed to help multiple people who share the same problem like drug addiction to help them remain sober. Stevens and Smith (2014), state that “families and individuals recovering from substance use disorders most commonly attend group treatment” (203). Group treatment is considered an effective tool. The group “format is also considered an efficient use of treatment resources” (Stevens & Smith, pg. 203).

Group therapy can be very useful for several reasons that individual counseling can’t provide. The reason is that group counseling is an “important tool of overcoming denial, minimizations and other thinking errors that occur with substance abuse” (Stevens & Smith, pg. 203). Another helpful aspect of group counseling is that group members can “learn about addiction and learn social coping skills to prevent relapse” (Stevens & Smith, pg. 203). Group treatment is much “lower in cost than individual therapy” (Stevens & Smith, pg. 232).
…show more content…
203). Group therapy is well known as an “effective prevention program for children and adolescents” (Stevens & Smith, pg. 233). It can also reduce “risk factors that can lead to the development of substance use disorders” (Stevens & Smith, pg. 233). This type of group can also help “prepare family members to transition of the substance abuser back in to the home who are in recovery” (Stevens & Smith, pg.

Related Documents

  • Decent Essays

    No progress was made in this dimension. The client’s social system remains non-supportive of his recovery and appears to have a high risk of returning to addictive behavior as evidenced by the lack of commitment for his recovery and disengaging from treatment. Client’s living environment does not appear to be supportive of addiction recovery as he has little social interactions. Client did report that he attends church, but he lacks contact with and a connection to the 12-stap sober support community. One uncompleted ISP was developed in this dimension, which was focused on developing a strong social system that is supportive of recovery.…

    • 254 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Great Essays

    Essy Zimmerman Case Study

    • 1990 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Once the client comes in for substance abuse counseling for the first time, they will go through a 30-45 minute structured interview that features a bio-psycho-social assessment which further assesses what the client will need to accomplish and the best way to go about reaching those goals. The main focus of the counseling that Betsy and her agency focus on is substance abuse counseling with their modality of treatment being group sessions. Individual sessions are rare and are only conducted when the contract requires it or if the client needs it. For example, if a client participates in a group session and they notice that the client has a lot of personal trauma or something that isn’t group appropriate then they offer the client to come in individually and do the group sessions however, the Counseling Center llc does have other locations that specialize in family therapy and couples counseling. When a client is seeking counseling at the Counseling Center llc, one of the first mandatory steps that must be taken is the filling out of an intake packet that contains documents that are necessary for effective and ethical counseling and treatment.…

    • 1990 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Cameron Group topic: Understanding Addiction PO attended group on time and moderately participated in the group activities. PO learned the definition of addiction, the addiction process, and the different types of substance(s) withdrawal symptoms. PO shared his substance use experience with peers, and identified reasons to stay clean and sober. PO completed the weekly treatment progress, which indicated he attended 2 sober meetings last week. Verification was provided.…

    • 763 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Danger Spoting Case Study

    • 643 Words
    • 3 Pages

    St. Vincent Group topic: Danger Spotting and Focusing PO was not present for OP group today. Received a voice message from PO at 10:58am, informing CDP that PO was unable to attend group due to “over slept”. Chrono was made. CCO was notified. Garcia Group topic: Danger Spotting and Focusing PO was not present for OP group today due to illness.…

    • 643 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Casarjian (1995) explains, “When you heal, you are never alone. By healing, you heal others” (p. 84). Group counseling allows inmates provide share ideas and information to solve their issues. For example, how did we address the mental frustration of addiction? The best solution…

    • 152 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Fentanyl Abuse Case Study

    • 1036 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Counseling can occur in a number of settings. Some patients take advantage of one-on-one counseling with a therapist, while others utilize group counseling. Group therapy can occur with other patients who are recovering from an addiction to fentanyl or other drugs. It can also occur with family members. When group therapy occurs with other patients, it is an excellent opportunity for patients to learn from and support each other.…

    • 1036 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Rehab centers have been known to help people stray away from drug use. In the United States, there are more than 14,500 specialized drug treatment facilities. (“Principles of Drug Addiction Treatment” n.p.) These facilities provide counseling, behavioral therapy, medication, case management, and other services for people who suffer with drug abuse. On average, 57% of people are able to finish the rehab process and 23% of people are able to stay sober after 5 years.…

    • 748 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The treatment planning phase involves a collaborative process in which the desired treatment outcomes are sought for and strategies are identified for achieving those outcomes. Hagedorn & Juhnke (2005) stated that the planning involves providing feedback regarding the conclusions that were drawn from the screening and assessment phase. This phase includes an exploration of the identified maladaptive sexual behaviors and identifying issues that may have an impact on the treatment process. Some of these issues may consist of health concerns, relationships with family and friends, co-occurring addictions, employment, education, spirituality and legal needs (Hagedorn & Juhnke, 2005). It is essential that the clinician educates the addicted client…

    • 1141 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Here I will give my perspective on various screening tools and therapeutic invention pertaining to the client with Substance Use Disorder as outline in the DSM-5. These screening tools are specific for the adult addict whether male or female and the adolescent addict. It will cover the characteristic of the substance use disorder while looking at the gender, culture, age, disability and physical handicaps. Many abusers of illicit substance have dual diagnosis disorders, and many have never been diagnosed. This paper will also cover the following screening tools along with the advantages and disadvantages of each.…

    • 1956 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Great Essays

    Narcotics Anonymous Meetings

    • 2293 Words
    • 10 Pages

    Finding meetings within one’s community is easy to access via the Internet, counseling offices, and state offices such as the courthouse. Once you find one meeting, it is not difficult to find another within the area, especially if the group does not meet each day. Different groups announce other meeting locations and opportunities for members and visitors at each meeting. Through the announcements, members are informed on upcoming events, sobriety anniversary dates, and other meetings in the area. At each meeting, there is a facilitator present.…

    • 2293 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Great Essays

    Diagnosis The client, Gwen Cummings, comes to the inpatient substance use treatment facility presenting with apparent symptoms of severe substance use disorder and potentially childhood trauma. According to the criteria from the DSM-5 on Substance Use Disorder, the “substance is often taken in larger amounts or over a longer period than was intended” (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Gwen shared that she and her boyfriend recently woke up late prior to their attendance at their friend’s wedding, unable to remember the details leading up to the end of the night. This, and other shared accounts from the client indicate that she met the first criteria for substance use disorder.…

    • 2254 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Great Essays

    Enabler Research Paper

    • 1013 Words
    • 5 Pages

    “My son called home and said that he doesn’t have any food or toilet paper!” At the time of the call this woman’s son had been in a residential recovery program for approximately three weeks; do you think she is an enabler? This man was over forty years old and drinking himself to death for decades. Substance abusers and alcoholics know exactly which buttons to push to get their enablers to react. Enablers are codependent with the substance abuser; they make terrible decisions thinking that they’re helping their loved one.…

    • 1013 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Susan, you mentioned that both of your models included group therapy. I am a strong advocate of group therapy for substance abuse users. Group therapy can be the glue that keeps them held together as a unit. The same principle is applied with support groups such as AA, however a person is generally assigned a sponsor that they can call when they feel their sobriety is being threatened. Lewis (2014) explains the correlation between group therapy and recovery.…

    • 110 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    1. Alcoholics Anonymous Alcoholics Anonymous which is commonly referred to as AA is a fellowship of both men and women whose primary purpose is to help alcoholics to not only stay sober but to also achieve sobriety ("What Is AA?", 2016). It serves the needs of people who have common problems. Members in the groups share their experiences, hope, and strengths with each other in a bid to solve their common problem and to assist each other to recover from alcoholism. AA focuses on a 12-step program that is based on a spiritual connection to a higher power to aid individuals overcome their addictions.…

    • 1540 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Great Essays

    Introduction A substance abuse counselor is in place to encourage and support clients who are addicted to alcohol and drugs. When alcohol and drug abuse client come to an agency to receive treatment, as a counselor it’s important that to encourage the client to receive the help to that the client can be rehabilitated. There are four core function of a counselor that will be discussed in this paper is client education, case management, crisis intervention, and referral. Each of these functions allows the counselor to assist the client to help them overcome their addiction.…

    • 1326 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Great Essays