My initial thought when approaching theories was that I had one style, and those was a straightforward approach to clients, and address their issues in the moment and to be solution focused. I have found this approach to work for me as I have worked in the Short Term Residential setting I for the last seven years. Upon further studying in this class I have learned that, yes I do utilize that approach in many situations as a tech on the floor with the clients; however I also use a vast amount of approaches in my interactions with client’s depending on the situation and the client themselves. It is my plan to be eclectic in my approaches as a therapist and utilize many different theories depending on a few different factors.
It is my intent to continue working in the Substance abuse field and with that I will also be working clients who are needing me to wear both an alcohol and drug counselor hat as well as a mental health counselor hat, as they often go hand in hand. In this paper I will be addressing the mental health clients who may be coming into treatment for substance abuse issues as well. It is difficult to describe a client who comes into treatment as they can run the gamut of mental health issues from Aspburgers, PTSD, major depression, Bi-Polar and many other diagnoses on top of their alcohol and drug abuse diagnoses.
I. My Personal Approach To Counseling
It is my belief that different approaches need to be used depending on the client, situation and special circumstances of that client. When gathering information for a client’s intake the approach to take with them can be gauged depending on what they reveal in the intake. When learning about their mental health diagnosis and their backgrounds, both socially...
... middle of paper ...
... from. Such as in the Adlerian theory, clients see their problems stemming back to their learned views on the world from influences around them. They may have formed their views from their family, their culture around them or from society as a whole.
In Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy it is believed that the clients irrational thoughts come from external childhood experiences. This could be based on their birth order or environmental influences around them, like abusive parents, a latchkey kid, or a child that was watched over closely and the center of attention.
For solution focused therapy a problem doesn’t necessarily have to originate from anywhere in particular, it can just be a problem. The focus is not on finding where the problem came from, but on how to resolve that problem.
III. How Clients Are Best Helped
I would approach clients by…. I would….
Seligman, L., & Reichenberg, L. W., (2010). Solution-focused brief therapy. In J. Johnston (Ed.), Theories of counseling and psychotherapy: systems, strategies, and skills.Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education
Depending on their conditions, many people resort to substances to help them cope. These substances are widely abused and are unhealthy. The British Journal of Social Work surveyed three different rehabilitation centers. They came to the conclusion that “There is a very large international body of research on substance use and abuse, ranging from problem etiology to treatment (Valtonen 59)”. This suggests that because of what people are dealing with, they often resort to substance abuse. However, there are many better ways to cope. People use substances to try and figure out their diagnoses. During the surveys of the rehabilitation centers, they found out some other coping mechanisms. Some of these coping mechanisms are sleeping, eating, smoking, and drinking. These mechanisms are not a healthy way to deal with the situation at hand. This study shows that people who avoid substances to cope and instead talk to a therapist have better outcomes. This is also true with people who go to focus groups and verbally discuss their problems rather than resorting to
Fortinash, K. M., & Holoday Worret, P. A. (Eds.). (2012). Substance-related disorders and addictive behaviors. Psychiatric mental health nursing (5th ed., pp. 319-362). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier Mosby.
You can’t use this sort of therapy as a theory however because all the Eclectic Psychologist is doing is ignoring the fundamental ideological underpinnings of the particular theories he is using and taking the parts relevant to their client in therapy
The following protocol, TIP 48 Managing Depressive Symptoms in Substance Abuse Clients during Early Recovery, will be discussed in conjunct with class notes in order to discern ways to effectively work with clients with co-occurring disorders. Clinicians need to be able to assess accurately for mental health disorders, substance use, and readiness for change.
The term ‘dual diagnosis’ refers to people who suffer from grave mental illness and have problems with drugs or alcohol to the extent that their mental and physical health is affected. The condition of substance misuse disorder does not entail that there is dependence or an addition rather it defines a spot where the person’s use of drugs or alcohol has become problematic and it impairs the person’s tone of spirit and their ability to work as part of a community. Some reasons that people who are mentally ill drink and get hold of drugs include they are self-medicating, to normalize entry into social groups, to run away or to disengage because their spirit is difficult so they why would rather be “numb” than deal with their troubles. In this paper I will cover the following topics substance abuse’s role in offending behaviors, challenges for both client and clinician’s perspective, interventions and techniques that can be used with this population and some research findings.
There are many theories of alcoholism, and some approaches explain and treat certain alcoholics better than others. One of the common themes throughout the readings is that addicts display a range of personal and situational problems. There is no "typical" addicted personality or emotional problem (Allen, 1996). Because of these facts, it comes as no surprise that there are also no typical assessment or treatment for these individuals. For instance, a medical/disease model of alcoholism may be more useful to some alcoholics than others. The point is that instead of rigidly applying one model, a counselor's goal is to use the models that are most effective to the particular alcoholic in question.
We need to provide patients with the choice and respect their decisions. Treatment should be individualized, based on the unique characteristics of each client and his specific needs, and outcome should be a joint effort between the patient and the therapist. The role of the counselor is to be present, supportive, open, flexible, to motivate and be and agent of change. It is the client who needs to determine whether or not a controlled drinking strategy is the best approach for his or her
Although we did not have time for the lecture on Chapter 15, I found myself intrigued with the information I read on solution-focused therapies. The term solution-focused therapy kept coming up in my classes, but I really did not have an understanding of exactly what it entailed. In reviewing this chapter, I not only learned a lot, but also found myself in agreement with much of what I read. While there is no such thing as a one size fits all therapy, Solution-focused therapy has a lot to offer clients.
In regards to the questions and answers, I feel as though my personal approach to counseling is based off of my own priorities I set forth in myself that follow more closely to the aspects of Reality Therapy, and Adlerian Therapy. Though Reality Therapy primarily focuses on the present, it still has some grounding in the past but not as much as Adlerian does. Even knowing this I still feel these two therapies are more closely related to my own belief system. I am in agreement with Reality Therapy, in that we are responsible for the choices we make. I trust that we can exercise great control over our lives, over how we can change to better ourselves, and to better our relationships with those around us. I feel that we all as a society are influenced by basic needs: belonging, survival, freedom, and power, and that these needs can be used as motivational tool when working with clients.
Therefore, when I work with substance abusers I will show empathy, encourage and validate their successes and their feelings about any failures. In addiction, I will help the person learn from their failures and normalize the situation. Furthermore, I would attempt to ensure that the person had several coping strategies in place, to help when he or she finds themselves in a difficult situation. Moreover, I intend to ensure the client has all the tools he or she needs to succeed while getting to the root of their problem through counseling.
Practicing and researching solution-focused family therapy is growing and becoming more prevalent in the helping profession (Gingerich, Kim, Geert, Stams, & Macdonald, 2012; Kim & Franklin, 2015). As such, solution-focused family therapy is now considered an evidence-based therapeutic approach for all helping professionals. Additionally, solution-focused family therapy is proven to be flexible and portable to a range of therapeutic settings including behavioral health and community counseling clinics, school counseling, alcohol and drug treatment facilities, and coaching. While, solution-focused family therapy is greatly recognized as a useful evidence-based approach, there is a lack of research on the process
Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy has its foundations in two distinctive therapeutic theories, Cognitive Therapy and Behavioural Therapy. Cognitive Therapy (CT) believes that thoughts, feelings and behaviour are connected. CT states and an individual with help; can identify an issue that is causing a behavioural or an emotional response and correcting that thinking to achieve a desired outcome. Behavioural Therapy believes that individual’s behaviour is due to conditioning during the early years of life and as such can be altered with conscious awareness. Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy is a combination of both of these theories and is based on an individual’s own history of thought an...
...take small parts of each theory to help clients (Lazarus & Beutler, 1993). However, there are some concerns when doing this. There is no set criteria for constructing a theory (Lazarus & Beutler, 1993). Above all, theoretical eclectism can be helpful in counseling sessions with a client like Antwone Fisher.
Substance abuse complicates almost every aspect of care for the person with a mental disorder. When drugs enter the brain, they can interrupt the work and actually change how the brain performs its jobs; these changes are what lead to compulsive drug use. Drug abuse plays a major role when concerning mental health. It is very difficult for these individuals to engage in treatment. Diagnosis for a treatment is difficult because it takes time to disengage the interacting effects of substance abuse and the mental illness. It may also be difficult for substance abusers to be accommodated at home and it may not be tolerated in the community of residents of rehabilitation programs. The author states, that they end up losing their support systems and suffer frequent relapses and hospitalizations (Agnes B. Hatfield, 1993).