The Mental Health Multidimensional Intake Form For Clients Beginning Services At Fairview Counseling Centers Essay

This particular mental health intake form contains seven pages of questions concerning the client’s current mental health status and past mental health status, as well as addresses medical history and social environment. The form appears to completely cover the client’s medical and mental health history, as well as gathers pertinent information about the client’s family history. However, there seems to be a lack of questions regarding the client’s environment. For example, there are no questions concerning the client’s living situation.

The mental health professional I interviewed was Carol McClelland of Freedom House Recovery Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Carol has worked with Freedom House for a year as the directory of outpatient services and is licensed as a LPC, LPCS, LCAS, CCS, and MA. Carol’s job requires her to be responsible for the direct oversight of all clinical operations and clinical integrity for outpatient services at Freedom House. The hours of operation are Monday through Friday from 8am to 5pm, along with a crisis and detox center that is available for contact 24/7. Carol has plenty of experience in the mental health field, such as working as a dual diagnosis/substance abuse outpatient therapist, working with the severely mentally ill, working as a criminal justice outpatient therapist, and also working in a methadone clinic. She chose this career after her experiences in working with mental health, and her extensive education in psychology and counseling. Carol stated that outpatient services was the most interesting out of her job experiences, so when she was offered the job at Freedom House, she accepted.

There are some questions within the intake form that can be difficult for the client to follow, as they are heavy with regards to medical terminology. When seeking information regarding substance abuse issues the intake form outlines the medical term for the different types of substances a client can be utilizing potentially making it difficult for the client to determine the types of substances that the client has chosen to utilize. Otherwise, the remainder of the form appears to be written in a way that can be understood among different reading levels.

The mental health care needs of many children and adults have been overlooked for quite some time. Nearly one in five adults experience a mental health issue at some point throughout their lives, yet due to the challenges in accessing and obtaining affordable health care, many have gone without adequate treatment (Mental health by the numbers, 2015). According to SAMSHA (2013), 2/3 of America’s 45 million adults suffering from mental illnesses, and 90% of our country’s 21 million adults struggling with substance use disorders go without treatment each year (SAMSHA, 2013).

The chosen intake form is from Focused Solutions, LLC who serves the areas of Brentwood, Tennessee and Columbia, Maryland. Intake forms are essential components to the helping process and the information within the form aids mental health professionals in properly caring for their clients. It also aids mental health professionals in properly identifying a client’s presenting problem. Although not all forms are thorough, mental health intake forms are essential to quality care of clients since they provide important information regarding client health and well-being and indicates several identifiers to characterize the presenting problem.

The major theoretical perspectives provide a framework for understanding and conceptualizing client’s current mental health issues and the potential contributory factors in the development of their problems. The present client, Toni Barone, is seeking treatment for her current unhappiness with her life, social isolation, and bereavement issues stemming from her father’s death.

There are many reasons I want to pursue a degree in clinical mental health counseling. First and foremost helping people has always been a passion of mine from an early age. Having come from a troubled past as a child and young adult and being able to completely turn my life around, I want to be able to help other troubled youth do the same. I fully understand how dealing with drug and alcohol addiction, grief and loss, mental health disorders, and physical handicaps can have a negative, lasting impact on a child, if not dealt with appropriately and in a timely manner. Living through these personal experiences has given me a glimpse into the team that is required to achieve success and I want to become an intricate part of that team.

The agency that I visited was the University of Houston-Clear Lake Psychological Services Clinic (UHCL PSC) which was located in the Arbor building. In order to learn more about the UHCL PSC program, I interviewed Dr. Julia Strait. Dr. Strait is the Clinic Director at the UHCL PSC and She is also a Clinical Assistant Professor of School Psychology. Dr. strait was very kind and gave me the opportunity to learn more about her. She received her Bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Texas at Austin and her Ph.D. in School Psychology from the University of South Carolina. Her areas of interest in psychology are the brain, memory, and behavior problems. She is a Licensed Psychologist (TN), Provisionally Licensed Psychologist (TX), Licensed Specialist in School Psychology (LSSP; TX), and a Nationally Certified School Psychologist (NCSP). Dr. Strait was previously an English High school and middle school teacher before she started in the school psychology Ph.D. program at the University of South Carolina. Dr. Strait also has experience with children who suffered from neglect, maltreatment (physical and sexual abuse) while working at a hospital for a couple of years.

Helping Professionals Community Mental Health Center (HPCMHC) will be providing you with counseling services and I, Ben Walker am your assigned Substance Abuse Technician (SAT). In this document you will be informed about the services we provide, confidentiality (and the limitations thereof), and my background. HPCMHC offers various services that include: substance abuse counseling, psychiatric evaluation, individual counseling, group counseling, peer support groups, and medication monitoring. All residents of Pima county are eligible for services.

There were many similarities such as the material in the introduction of the services, and the last part where it assessed for safety. However, during the intakes I perform for outpatient therapy, there is much more paperwork and signatures that are involved. Some of the information asked within the CiCI are relevant questions that can be compared to those within a comprehensive assessment. I think that during the comprehensive assessment, I have to write in more detail, but it is still similar. I appreciated that this intake provided much more room for me as the counselor to be more natural and not as rigid in completing mandatory paperwork.

Theories play an important role in how a counselor serves their clients. Theories provide counselors with a foundation on which to build their counseling style. “Theories ground us as professional counselors. They provide a means to understand what we are doing, how we are serving clients, and how to explain counseling to clients” (Erford, 2010). Counselors are responsible for being aware of different theories in order to apply them appropriately within their practice. Established and new theories play an important and constant role in mental health counseling. Established theories in mental health counseling are based on “empirical or scientific foundations” (American Counseling Association, 2005). The best way to gain the most

The process of intake is the first step to the individual counseling and treatment. It is a one on one interview to set up dates and times best for the individual. Time and preparation are very important to this process because the program requires you to complete all your mandates. Today I interview ten different individuals. The issues are that court normally starts at 10 because of the judge so that leave me 2 hours to fully analyze every individual correctly and effectively. The first challenge I realize was that court does not work on people time. No matter how many people, there are some who not granted a fair and impractical trial. One of the individual because they could not understand why he was given more than 11 mandate was forced

The second section of the transformational box is the processes an organization will utilize to achieve its desired goal. Carey Counseling Center has identified the patient and their need in the input transformational box, and has identified the skilled staff that will complete the treatment plan to achieve the desired goal. Now the processes of assessment, diagnosis and treatment will be enacted. Originally a client who is identified will participate in the same day access (SDA) portion of an intake, which is performed by a licensed counselor aimed at identifying possible treatment issues and goals. Once the intake process is complete, then our psychiatrist and therapist will make treatment team recommendations that will essentially outline

Becoming acquainted with a potential client’s history, personality and present concerns is necessary in forming a foundation for counseling interventions. This information gathering phase is referred to as assessment (Mears, 2010). While some mental health professionals will use an interview as their primary assessment tool, others will utilize testing

Following referral of a confused client for treatment by healthcare professionals, an initial care plan is designed. A care plan is a treatment plan agreed between the confused client and their multidisciplinary team (MDT) to address their mental health issues. It includes an assessment of the client’s health, personal and social care needs ensuring they get the best care. The MDT works with the client to achieve specific goals. The MDT may need to change the care plan depending on client’s state of health (HSE 2016).