The Substance Abuse/Life Circumstance Evaluation. The Salce

There are various assessment tools obtainable for assessing the needs for patients or clients. The addiction professional uses assessment instruments as one component of the counseling/treatment process taking into account the client’s personal and cultural background. The assessment process promotes the well-being of individual clients or groups (NAADAC, 2015). This process helps determine how much and what kind of treatment your client needs. It is important to be aware of different types of assessments as well as being familiar with how they work in each situation. As we assess George we will use two different assessment tools to give as an example of how to assesss the needs of this client.

Ms. Client is a twenty-two-year-old, Caucasian female was referred for a psychological evaluation by Dr. B., Clinical Psychiatrist and her therapist for her excessive use of cocaine, Xanax and other substances. Dr. B. stated Ms. Client has been experiencing loss of interest, feeling like a failure and frequently crying. Additionally, she complains that her struggle with substance abuse has impacted her social, emotional and behavioral functioning. Ms. Client was admitted to the facility following a relapse. This is her sixth substance abuse treatment program. The purpose of the current evaluation is to (1) assess present level of functioning, (2) determine diagnostic impressions, (3) to identify relevant treatment and service needs.

This paper highlights 3 substance use screening and assessment measures that are commonly utilized in diagnostic assessment. The T-ACE, DALI and SBIRT tools are used across several domains, and in multiple healthcare settings. The purpose of this paper is to describe these assessment tools, and how they impact human services providers working in addictions treatment.

I will be using the patient initials (MK), throughout this paper when I reference her. I asked the patient a list of questions about her life and I will summarize the answers for you now. MK is an alert and oriented 84 year-old female who is happily married and lives with her husband of 56 years. MK is retired and worked as a high school secretary for 20 years in the town she lived in. She grew up in Pennsylvania with her parents and was the oldest of five children. Her family medical history includes cardiac disease and diabetes with all of her brothers and sisters still alive. MK has three of her own children who all live with in a 30 minute drive from her home and they speak frequently on the phone with her and her husband. MK and her husband are going on a vacation together this summer to South Carolina with her son and his family. MK still hosts holidays and family gatherings at her home with only a couple holidays hosted by her son at his home. MK and her husband receive social security and her husband’s pension as their income. They have Medicare and also a supplemental insurance through AARP. MK enjoys her exercise class, reading, her card club, traveling and is also very active in her church including being on the bereavement committee. MK still drives her own car around town to visit friends and shop but prefers not to drive at night

According to Feldstein and Miller (2007), explain that the SASSI was publish is 1985 and select by counselors to use with other screening instruments. Wormer and Davis (2013) describe the SASSI form with true/false question not pertaining to substance or alcohol. This SASSI assessment is the most used tool that has different versions (Miller, Woodson, Howell, & Shields, 2009). For instance, the SASSI 3 has 10 scales with 93 items to identify if a client has a substance disorders. In addition, the scales include the Face Valid Alcohol, Face Valid Other Drug, Symptoms, Obvious Attributes, Subtle Attributes, Defensiveness, Supplemental Addiction Measure, Family History, and Tendency to Involvement

There are many assessment processes that are used to identify substance abuse as well as many other disorders that are addictive. These processes include the SBIRT, AUDIT (Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test), NIDAMED, CAGE AID (which is used frequently within the counseling foundation), AUDIT-C, and also the DAST-10 which is an assessment process used to evaluate drug abuse within the patients. These are many different processes that are currently used to identify these addictions in clients. The activity of identifying these processes can be over a period of time or can be evaluated in that same day or after the evaluation is completed.

In an effort to aid in the proper treatment recommendations for individuals presenting with substance abuse or dependence issues, the ASI was created for study purposes through the Veteran’s Administration in 1977 (McLellan et Al., 2006). It is a multidimensional assessment tool that expands its focus outside of simply substance abuse, but into other key complex domains that that either directly impact the individual’s substance abuse, or their subsequent recovery efforts (Denis, et AL., 2012). The ASI is a semi-structured assessment tool, that while it utilizes direct answers, also allows for the expansion of certain questions and the ability for assessor notes outside of provided questions, in order to allow a clearer understanding within certain domains. While I have never personally used a precise ASI assessment professionally with a client, I did notice an undeniable, almost succinct, similarity with the biopsychosocial assessment I use with clients in my position.

Bering the uniqueness of each individual, people seek psychotherapy propelled by unique problems and conditions. Generally, many people will look for therapy because of sense of dissatisfaction with emotional pain or life. Sometimes it can be from immediate distress that is related to a definite crisis like addiction, separation or a loss, maybe on ongoing difficulty in part of their lives like work or relationship. For some people it might be due to suffering strong sadness, worry or fear. To some extent individuals might not have a clear external problem, but having inner sense of emptiness, dissatisfaction, or missing something. Screening and assessment play a critical role in psychotherapy. Extend of collecting details during assessment always differ depending on the settings of treatment as well as circumstances. For example, within primary settings like hospitals and medical practices, the aim of screening tends to be for determining hazardous or dependent drinkers.

The staff at the facility should be specialized to treat psychiatric, psychological, and medical conditions of the residents. It is important to find the underlying cause and conditions of the substance abuse addiction (Abadinsky, 2014). “A typical day is from 7:00 A.M. to 11:00 P.M. “and includes morning and evening house meetings, job assignments, groups, seminars, scheduled personal time, recreation, and individual counseling” (Abadinsky, 2014, p.

Substance abuse is a tragedy that touches many lives. Abuse begins with a single use event that, with continued use and overindulgence, transforms into a battle. The abuser most always loses that battle. Personal relationships, social ties, and employment suffers. Irresponsible and erratic behavior becomes the norm, and though the abuser is aware on some level of the reckless and thoughtless acts that they commit, they continue to use and abuse their drug of choice. What starts as experimentation often ends in addiction. The best hope for a person in the grips of substance abuse is immediate,

The next area of focus presented itself after asking certain questions in this area. Mr. and Mrs. Lake discuss the emotional stress brought on by moving from California to Arizona last year and leaving their 23 year old handicapped son Brad behind in California. Brad resides in a group home where he has lived for the past 10 years. He is very accustomed to his environment there; his needs are put first and it is best for him to stay there. To cope they contact his’ group home weekly to evaluate his needs and concerns the home may have. In addition, plans are made so Mrs. Lake can drive or fly to California to attend important meetings and appointments with her son Bradley. She describes the stress of being so far from her son very hard. She states she relies on her husband, Christian faith, and Brads’ care-takers to help her cope. Observations of this couple show a very solid support system provided

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual V (DSM 5) describes the essential feature of a substance use disorder as a cluster of cognitive, behavioral and physiological symptoms indicating that the individual continues using the substance despite significant substance-related problems. Specifically, the DSM V describes diagnostic criteria as a problematic pattern of alcohol use leading to clinically significant impairment or distress. Mr. Holliday manifested the following:

One the first side of the form, clients will fill out the questionnaires that do not pertain to substance use or abuse and the other side will then be filled out with questions pertaining to substance use or abuse (Van Wormer & Davis, 2013). The point of the two-sided form is to create a less defensive attitude in clients and have them acknowledge their behavior (Van Wormer & Davis, 2013). One of the strengths of SASSI is the ability to take the assessment in a variety of settings (Screening Issues, 2016). A counselor may use the SASSI in an inpatient co-occurring disorder unit or in a work setting with employers. Another strength is the prediction of one being diagnosed with a substance abuse problem (Screening Issues, 2016). For example, if a client has a family history of drug use and begins using small amounts, the SASSI could help predict the likelihood the client will suffer with an addictions disorder. A drawback of this assessment is the lack of evidence it provides of a client actually using drugs (Screening Issues, 2016). A client may exhibit behavioral themes of an addict, but is not currently taking

The assessment procedure is a tool that can be used as a roadmap to gain knowledge of the client, emotions, and thoughts of that patient, past traumas, revelations, and detrimental behaviors of the client. I prepared for my interview with Maria as I did for past sessions which included reading pertinent information pertaining to the session, making and carrying my notes, making sure to be warm, empathetic, and using words of affirmations. Lastly, it’s imperative to use proven therapeutic approaches and conduct research about the client however it is just as vital to walk into a session with an open mind and heart willing to aid in times of

This risk assessment tool is used, primarily, to determine the risk factors that individuals are exposed to when they abuse drugs and alcohol and are at a greater risk for acquiring HIV/AIDS. The questionnaire in designed to help measure the degree to which people may be exposed to the virus, based on measurable patterns of behavior. The questions are extremely personal and require a great capacity for honesty if the assessment tool is to work properly to determine risk factors. This method of measuring the lifestyle risks of a person who engages in frequent alcohol and drug use can be used to determine the level of necessary counseling that a person may need. This can lead to better choices for possible interventions to produce results to lower the risk factors for becoming infected with the HIV virus.