Systemic Intervention and a Treatment Plan
As it has been documented time and time again, drug abuse continues to be a huge health problem in the United States (Rowe, 2012). It is estimated that 4 million Americans and their families may be impacted by drugs or disorders that lead from the use of drugs (Rowe, 2012). Another 3 million by substance abuse or dependence on illicit or alcohol use (Rowe, 2012). The family I will be using for my scenario will be presented among those percentages.
In this scenario the children would have been the first to start treatment due to behavioral issues within school. Both children (sisters) were showing aggressive behavior at school towards other children. The little girls are both of young ages and were active within school activities. When these children were presented with questions such as friendship, both stated that “they had a lot of friends”. In turn these girls would tell their parents that they would be bullied, when in fact they were the ones doing the bulling. In this scenario the family would be low income and of a differentiated race.
Further along in the situation, it is found out that the children are having issues at home. The youngest child has mentioned to a staff member that they do not like how many people were living at her home, in which the child starts to show additional emotion. The eldest child had discussed her mother’s drinking with a different staff member and that her mother “promised that she would stop, but she has not.” Relational issues have been known within the house hold with parents and have been affecting the children. Parents are separating due to abusive relations. Children know about abusive relations. Have seen after affects but never s...
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However, I have watched a family break apart because of drugs as well because one of the parents was not as involved as the other and was not willing to give up illicit drugs (Meth) for his family. I watched the family deteriorate, and there was nothing I could do. The parent had no problem signing over parental rights, without a thought. This was hard for me to understand being a parent myself.
I am not completely sure if these would be the goals the client would set for this possible scenario and I am still not solid in setting interventions, selecting the correct therapeutic practice for any certain client, but I would hope this would work out. I never know what is going to work correctly till I am faced with the task at hand. My clients help guide me more than anything, which is one of the things I love about SBFT. It is, after all, their therapy.
9). Based on the afore initiatives, the mental health professional must decide which therapy would be beneficial in treatment for the clients’ problems. Evaluations and reevaluations may be needed to be successful in treatment (Nurcombe, 2014,
Demetris Jr., Leearah, and Miaza'a parents (Malik and Demetis Sr. are on drugs. Malik and Demetris Sr., smoke marijuana in the home. Demetris takes pills that are not prescribed to him by a doctor. Demetris Sr., sells crack, pills, and marijuana in the home. The children do not have access to the drugs. The drugs are not being manufactured out of the home. The parents are always high and sleep. The parents have other people (unknown) during drugs in the home. The parents are cussing at the children. Malik tells the children, "Sit your mother fucking ass down. Get the fuck out of my face." Demetris Sr. spanked and whipped the children with a belt or a switch. The children'shave no bruises or marks. The parents fight in front
Rosa and Miguel are experiencing relationship problems due to developmental and financial stressors. This has created a turbulent home environment. Miguel’s verbal abuse and open hostility has Rosa emotionally overwhelmed. He is not physically abusive; however, his anger is upsetting the household. The children are also displaying emotional and physical stress related symptoms. Rosa and Miguel come from emotionally unstable homes, which has impacted their ability to communicate and manage their emotions. Due their inability to communicate in a productive manner, they have sought help to resolve their problems. Both have expressed the concern that they are repeating the harmful behavior they experienced as children. They
Substance disorders affects all social, educational, cultural, and age groups. Substance abuse research often focusses on the abuser and the family as a whole but not how it affects their spouse. United States misuse is linked to approximately 590,000 deaths and is responsible for injury or illness to almost 40 million individuals every year. (Cox, R., Ketner, J. & Blow, A. 2013). The consequences resulted from this disorder, are not only related to the substance abusers, but also have a great influence on their behavior and other layers of their life, especially their wives (Salehyan, Bigdeli, & Hashemian 2011). When the husband or boyfriend has an addiction the wife takes on responsibilities of her spouse which causes an increase in stress. Marriage is generally described as a protective factor against substance use. The concept of codependency was developed to explain what happens to the spouse of a substance abuser.
When we view substance use disorders, alcohol is the most widely used drug within the United States and 11 percent of workers have drinking problems (Frone, 2006). Over 20 million people used illegal substances in 2006 and 7 million people abused prescribed medications. Of the 18 million drug abusers, 18 years or older in 2006, 13.4 million (74.9 %) were employed full or part time (SAMHSA, OSA). These addiction problems have an expenditure of $276 billion dollars per year with most of this cost from loss of productivity and health care (H. Harwood, D. Fountain, and G. Livermore, 1992).
Solution Focused Brief Therapy is a unique approach to therapy that neither focuses on the past nor the future but on what is possible now. SFBT is a post modern approach to therapy that became popular in the 1960's and 70s based on the theory that posits small progress can lead to long term change. This approach was created by...creatorsThe clients and the counselor collaborate to establish realistic goals that can be reached in a relatively short period of time. The counselor works to create an environment where clients can be honest. SFBT believe that analyzing problems is not needed in the process of change. Behavior change is seen as an integral part of change in clients therapeutic process. Both the counselor and the client come together to create goals to incite a change in behavior.
Parent(s) should be able to provide a stable and loving environment for their children to grow up in, unfortunately, for drug addicted parents this feat seems impossible. Addicts must satisfy their own needs over anything else (Street, Whitlingum, Gibson, Cairns, and Ellis 2011). The high cost of drugs and their bizarre side effects cause rocky, unpredictable daily lives for the children of these addicts. Estimates show “…6 million children live with a parent who abuses alcohol or other drugs” (Taylor 2011). Children that reside with substance abusing parents enter into a perpetual cycle of physical abuse, neglect and emotional trauma. Numerous children raise themselves and/or their siblings because their parent(s) are either too drugged up to tend to their needs or are not home at ...
The current situation of drug control in the United States is imperfect and inadequate. Millions of men and women, both young and old, are affected by illicit drug use. It costs the United States about $6,123 every second because of drug use and its consequences (Office). Moreover, 90 percent of all adults with a substance use disorder started using under the age of 18 and half under the age of 15. Children who first smoke marijuana under the age of 14 are five times more likely to abuse drugs as adults than those who first use marijuana at age 18. Finally, the children of alcoholics are four times more likely to develop problems with alcohol (Prevent). Current legislation that has to do with the United States’ drug control policy is the Controlled Substances Act, which regulates the manufacture, importation, possession, use, and distribution of certain substances (Shannon). In 1966, Congress passed the Narcotic Addict Rehabilitation Act also known as the NARA. This legislati...
Every single person in an addict’s immediate family is affected in some way by the individual’s substance abuse. In recent years, our society has moved further away from the traditional nuclear family. There are single-parent homes and blended family homes. Each of these family structures and more will affect the addict’s overall impact on the family. If young children are a part of the family, their
Many children that are in these family situations may end up in foster care due to their parent’s inability to properly care for them due to their addictions. If children grow up in families, with issues such as these, it will most likely affect them throughout the remainder of their
Most people do not understand how a person become addicted to drugs. We tend to assume that is more an individual problem rather than a social problem. However, teen substance abuse is indeed a social problem considered a priority for the USA department of public health due to 9 out of 10 Americans with addictions started using drugs before the age 18 (CASA Columbia University). Similarly, 1 in 4 Americans with addictions started using the substance during their teenage years, which show a significant different with 1 in 25 Americans with addiction who started using at 21 or older (CASA, 2011).
A family came in for therapy. There are five people in this family. There are two teenage girls, an 18-year-old male, and a mother and a father. Lately, one of the girls is no longer attending school, she is also withdrawing from friends. She has been disrespectful towards dad. She has been posting lewd pictures on social media, and there are people in the neighborhood telling the parents that they have seen one of their daughters drinking when with their friends.
Substance abuse disorders are common in our society. It is a disorder that each one of us will most likely experience through a family member, friend, or our self. I felt very drawn to this topic due to the fact that I have a family that has background of substance abuse and I myself have battle the demon. Not until I struggled with my own addiction did I become more tolerable and understanding to those that have a substance abuse disorder. Substance abuse is not something anyone wants to have; it is a disorder that takes control of a person’s life. It is a beast that tears a person apart; from their being to the lives of their loved ones. This disorder is not biased in anyway; rich or poor, male or female, employed or unemployed, young or old, and any race or ethnicity” (E Not Alone).
There is nothing that hurts more than watching your child destroys their health and well-being through alcohol or drug addiction. You do not know what to do, nothing you have tried has done any good, and it is tearing you up inside watching the deterioration. You can get sucked into the madness and feel like you are drowning in a sea of turbid water.
When one member of a family is involve in the misuse of drugs, the whole family is affect irrespective of whether the drug abuser is a senior or junior. As a result, the relationship between family members is affected negatively; therefore, the family may end up being dysfunctional (Barnard, 2007).