Evaluation And Treatment Of Dual Disorders Essay

Dual diagnosis is a combination of two corresponding mental diseases, or disorders, when one of the diseases is a form of addiction.

Although the main goal of the assessment is to refer clients to treatment, many clients refuse treatment. However, they are willing to accept referrals to non-addiction agencies to resolve problems that have either been caused by addiction or that led to the problems. This assessment may be an intervention that the client needs. You will want to use the appropriate research-based screening tools that may be applicable to the client’s individual circumstances.

This clinician wants to open his own dual diagnosis center with substance abuse disorders and mental health disorders. Many individuals with substance abuse issues also suffer from mental health issues. This counselor suffers from the disease of substance abuse and has made it his lifelong goal to help individuals with these types of issues.

An integrated screening is used for information gathering through interviews, testing, and overall assessment. It can be used to determine signs of intoxication and self-harm, as well as a client’s overall behavior and outward appearance. It is more of a surface-level examination and should not be used as the only assessment tool. In contrast, integrated assessment is more detailed and looks at cognitive functioning, readiness for change, and can be used to establish formal diagnoses and determine the appropriate level of care. It is client-centered, motivating, and should encourage the client to continue with treatment. There are typically 12 specific steps used in this assessment, which are used to obtain information on symptoms, strength, limitation, cultural barriers, and past history with mental health and substance abuse difficulties. In addition, the clinician can use this to obtain a reading of the client’s perception of the problem and how they would like to make a change. As described above in the summary of the previous reading, integrated treatment planning is a detailed look at the services that are expected to be provided to the client for each problem and how this will bring about change change for him or her. It is not a final document and will change over the course of time as the person continues to grow. Not one of these three options should be used alone, but rather all should be combined in the appropriate manner to best serve the

I chose to visit a mental/ behavioral health agency, The Healthy Foundations Center, that works with many individuals who have been dually diagnosed to increase knowledge regarding substance abuse concerns. As a foster care agency, we are well prepared to work with children and families, however we are sometimes less prepared to meet the needs of parents who are also dealing with addiction. Currently, we cannot provide any medication management services, either, which is a service that could be beneficial to the clients we serve. I identified this agency because they have providers who are experienced in working with individuals with dual diagnosis, capable of meeting the complex needs of these families, as well as provide medication

When a counselor has a new client they are working with, the client has to be assessed. When being assessed the counselor has to determine what issues the client may have. Through being assessed, the counselor may come to realize the client has more than one issue which is called co-occurring disorders. At this point the client will have to be treated for more than one disorder to effectively overcome the problems they are facing. Within this paper one will locate the prevalence of co-occurring disorders, mental health and substance abuse

Clearly, it would be in the best interests of society to address the problem with substance use disorder. There are ten separate classes of drugs, which include alcohol, caffeine, cannabis, hallucinogens stimulants, and unknown substances (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). In order to diagnose someone with substance use disorder the DSM 5 (2013) lists eleven separate criteria. The individual may require higher amounts or longer periods than was originally planned. Obtaining, using and recovering from the effects of the drug may take the majority of their time. The daily routine revolves around the drug. When the

It now is by, and large recognized that these patients have needed to explore divided frameworks and that they have gotten treatment that is less open and less compelling than the medical services framework can convey. For quite some time the presence of a co-occurring disorder diagnosis has been ignored, overlooked or misdiagnosed, health care providers and policymakers now perceive that these conditions are prevalent and that the dominant part of patients with substance abuse issues doubtlessly has a co-occurring disorder.

Gold and Brandt (2005) define alcoholism in The American Journal of Psychiatry as a “primary, chronic disease with genetic, psychosocial, and environmental factors influencing its development and manifestations. Often progressive and fatal, it is characterized by periodic or continuous impaired control over drinking, preoccupation with the drug alcohol despite adverse consequences, and distortions of thinking, most notably denial” (p. 1038). In the movie 28 Days, the main character, Gwen Cummings must face the consequences of her drinking habit and the effect it has on her sister Lily. The movie addresses many of the problems and feelings that addicts face as they enter treatment, as well as following Gwen through several different phases

Co-occurring disorders are described as a person having the presence of two or more disorders at one time. Estimates suggests that up to 7 million people in the United States have a combination of at least one co-occurring mental health and substance related disorder in any given year (US Department of Human Services, 2003). Research shows that a person’s mental health condition should not be overlooked when treating for substance abuse (Green, Noordsy, Brunette, & O'Keefe, 2008). Integrated treatment as an organizing concept began in the 1980s when it was observed that clients with co-occurring disorders were highly unlikely to receive treatments for both mental health and substance use problems under the existing circumstances

There has been recent change in the diagnosis of psychoactive substance-related disorders. In the fifth edition of the Diagnostic Statistical Manual Version [APA DSM-5, 2013], both classification and diagnosis requirements have changed moving from the DSM IV-TR to the DSM V. Under DSM IV, diagnosing a substance use disorder (SUD) is performed according to two levels of severity:

Screening is a quick overview, which comprises a single measurement, done for the explicit intention of determining whether deeper diagnostic assessment is necessary or warranted. Screening supports in identifying the possibility that a client has co-occurring substance abuse and mental disorders or that his or her presenting signs, symptoms, or behaviors may be influenced by co-occurring issues. The purpose is not to establish the presence or specific type of such a disorder, but to establish the need for an in-depth assessment. Screening is a formal process that typically is brief and occurs soon after the client presents for services. Integrated screening seek to answer identify if there are comorbidity is by asking yes or no questions.

As a drug and alcohol professional, with a desire to continue working in the field in a more advanced capacity, assessment plays such huge part in the ongoing relationship between the counselor, the client, and the process of change. As with any initial meeting between two people, there are going to be questions that are asked and information that is gathered to better understand and get to know one another. Whiston (2013) stated, “Assessment and appraisal are not just formal psychological evaluations; in this book, they are defined as procedures for gathering client information that is then used to facilitate clinical decisions and provide information to clients,” (p. 5). With this population, and with the withdrawal of drugs from the body,

Researchers have found that a link exists between mental illness and substance abuse, which may have complications on the actual treatment for mental illness. It is very important for the addiction counselor to properly understand both the differences between acute primary psychiatric disorders and any underlying psychiatric symptoms, caused by alcohol and other drugs. Sometimes the addiction needs to be treated first in order for the mental illness to be properly identified and successfully treated. Also addiction counselors need to understand mental health disorder treatments. Clients with co-occurring substance abuse and mental health illness problems may benefit from substance abuse treatments, even those with serious mental health symptoms. This can set the foundation for the addiction counselor to provide a good integrated treatment strategy which can offer a lower relapse rate and achieve long term abstinence. When a counselor is a assessing a client, the client must understand how a co-occurring disorder may effect there addiction. Counselors must perform a thorough assessment in order to identify the proper criteria for each diagnosis that is identified.

This process has to be long enough to allow the clinician to form a complete overview of the clients substance abuse pattern (Doweiko, 2015). I would use various screening methods that would include direct questioning from me, self-administered questionnaires by pencil, paper, computer, or laboratory test (Hester and Miller, 2003). There are a couple of different screening instruments that can be used; however, the first one that I am going to choose is a verbal screening aid that can be used by adolescents and adults. It is known as TWEAK. The letters are a mnemonic used so that the assessor can ask the questions of whether the client has developed; Tolerance to alcohol or drugs, (b) have others ever been Worried about their substance abuse, (c). have the client ever used an Eye-opener. (4). Amnesia, during periods of substance use. (5). have the client made attempts to K cut down on substance use (Doweiko, 2015). In order to minimize the possible harm that can be caused by self-report instrument. I would administer another instrument that would analyze the same detail of the clients behavior. However, this would have to be done at different times, such as days or weeks apart, so that the assessor can determine the similarities or differences in the screening (Doweiko, 2015). The second screening tool that I would use would be the most popular for alcohol use