Addictions and interventions - Essay Example

Linda is a 36 year old African American woman who has gotten herself into a bad predicament. Due to her use of cocaine, she has not only lost her job, but she has now gotten herself in serious trouble with the law. As a result, she has lost custody of her daughter and the only way the courts will agree to letting her daughter come home is if she can successfully complete treatment, abstain from drugs, and find stable employment. The following treatment plan and recommendations will be instituted to help make this possible. The type of therapy that will be best suited in aiding Linda to recovery is Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy. The reason this is the best option for Linda is that it will not only help her to recover the quickest, since this type of therapy is the most rapid in producing results, it is the best use of time and resources, as this sort of therapy is a very direct approach, and it is not open ended in the way that other therapies are, such as psycho-analysis (National Association of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapists, 2009). Another reason that Linda will benefit from Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy is that it will enable her to think differently about her circumstances, even if they cannot be changed (National Association of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapists, 2009). For instance, she lives in a poor part of town. While she may not be able to change that immediately or even at all, Cognitive-Behavior Therapy will assist her in learning to view her circumstances differently. The results of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy are long term. This is due to the fact that the client will understand how and what to do in order to make things better, and then they will be able to apply it, even after therapy has ended (National Association of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapists, 2009). Linda and I can work together, and she will feel involved in her treatment, which will give her the incentive to want to do better. As far as having others involved in working on the case, I would prefer to work with Linda alone, since it is vital that she and I establish a relationship where she is comfortable opening up to me and expressing her feelings. If too many other professionals are involved in her case, it would be to her detriment because she would not have the chance to form a bond with me that would allow her to feel comfortable enough to work with me in improving her life and setting goals. Cognitive-Behavior therapy is most effective when sessions involve only the client and the therapist, not multiple professionals (National Association of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapists, 2009). There will be a number of things that I will need to know about Linda in order for the use of Cognitive-behavior therapy to be best effective in helping her to recover. One thing that I will like to know about Linda is what she'd like to get out of life. Knowing this bit of information will enable me to help her set goals and come up with different strategies that will help her to achieve those goals. Secondly, I will like her to tell me a little about herself and what makes her feel the need to engage in using drugs. Knowing her reasons for why she feels the need to engage in this behavior will enable me to better know and understand her, so I will be able to tailor the therapy sessions to best suit her needs. Finally, I will ask her how she feels about herself and her current circumstances. Knowing about these things will enable me to help her to set goals o either change her attitude or change her world. Though I'd love to focus on every aspect of Linda, this would be impossible due to time constraints and limited resources. So in order to make the best use of the time and resources that are available to me in dealing with this case, it will be advantageous for me to focus on aspects of her life and character that are of vital importance. Two major areas that deserve the utmost attention are helping her to establish goals on fighting her addiction and helping her to think of herself and her circumstances in a different light. When it comes to conquering her addiction, I will first ask her why she feels the need to use drugs. If she says that it is recreational use, then I will offer her other choices of activities she can engage in to make better use of her time. Together, we will come up with a list of fun and entertaining recreational activities to do, and then I will have her select at least three of them to do on her own time. I will have her write down her experiences about what she has done, such as how she liked it and what she got out of it, and then, we will talk about it. If she said that it was her way of coping with life, this is when we focus on her circumstances and help her to view them differently. Whether or not her circumstances are the reason for her drug use, I will still feel strongly about helping her to view herself and her circumstances differently, as they are not that good to start with. She is living in poverty. She is a single mother, and she does not have any family support. These circumstances alone can make life tough to live. The most important thing will be to do when focusing on her circumstances is to know of some of Linda's concerns, such as her concern for her daughter, her mother, her current circumstances, or her future. Upon learning these concerns, it will be fit for me to ask her questions about what she wants to do to address those concerns, and I'd also teach her to ask questions of herself, so she can exercise what she has learned and evaluate herself outside of therapy. Furthermore, I will help her to empower herself, such as offering her some suggestions to educational programs, as well as some options of employment. Along with these suggestions, I will talk with her about ways she can help out in her community because when a person feels they are helping another, it gives them a since of value and worth, which will more than likely help Linda to feel better about herself. When she feels better about herself, she can then deal with what is going on in her life. I will devote some sessions to helping her to set goals as to what she'd like to achieve, and then, we will work together to come up with some practical strategies as to how this will happen. I will work together with her to set a plan in place that she will stick to through the duration of our therapy together and afterwards. Each of our sessions will have a structured agenda, and specific concepts and techniques will be taught. The main goal will be to have her reflect on what she has learned during the sessions and take the knowledge she has gained and apply it to everyday life. Along with her therapy, the sociocultural Model of Prevention will be applied as part of her treatment. This choice was made based on the fact that this theory suggests that if the client is provided with proper information, such as how the use of drugs will affect the human body, as well as the quality of life, her attitude will change. This change of attitude will then enable her to make better choices for herself, which will cause her to stop abusing the drugs further (U.S. Department of Education, 2009). Due to the fact that Linda resides in a disadvantaged area, where the use of drugs is prevalent, it is possible that she has not received any proper education in regards to substance abuse, hence the reason for the need for the Sociocultural Model of Prevention to be a part of her treatment. In order to effectively help Linda to prevent future relapses from occurring, we will be utilizing the Cognitive Behavioral Model of Relapse Prevention. I feel that this will be a major contributor to her success in that this particular model enables the client and therapist to work together on many levels. First, the therapist and the client will work together to identify which specific lifestyle factors, cravings, and urges will cause a relapse. Then, the client and therapist will work alongside one another to identify all stages of a relapse and how to handle each stage. There will be discussions of which situations put the client at high risk for using the drugs and how to cope when faced with these situations. Positive addictions will be put in place of the negative addictions, so when the client does feel the need to make use of drugs again, she can turn to the positive addictions to aid in her withdrawal and eventual dissipation of the desire to use drugs. The client will receive proper information on drug use and will be taught to watch out for any myths that are circulating in regards to relapses (Larimer, Palmer, Marlatt, 1999). If Linda has the tools that she needs to cope with her circumstances, as well as proper information in regards to what she can expect and a realistic view of relapse, she is more than likely to succeed versus if she did not have these tools and this knowledge to work with. Upon being discharged, I feel that it is in Linda's best interest that she attends support groups. Support groups will offer her the support that she does not have now; being that there is a lack of family in the picture. What's more, these groups will provide her with a strong support system from which she can draw strength, especially when times are at their worse, such as if she is going through withdraw or if she is feeling like going back to abusing drugs. Being a part of support groups will help her to understand that she is not alone and that there are others going through the same thing. If Linda knows this, the outcome will be more positive. If she has others to relate to, she will be able to better cope with her circumstances. Along with the recommendation to belong to a support group, I'd suggest that she joins Narcotics Anonymous. Joining this sort of program will help to reinforce what she learned during her therapy sessions, and it will better help her to apply all of the techniques and strategies that she learned during her time in the treatment program. What's more, being a part of this program will provide her with a network of resources that she can utilize to build herself up and make a better life for herself. This treatment program, along with these recommendations, will insure that Linda has a successful recovery. She will then be able to retrieve her child from foster care, and her quality of life will improve dramatically. Work Cited Larimer, M. E., Palmer, RMarlatt. S., & Marlatt, G. A. (1999). An Overview of Marlatt's Cognitive-Behavioral Model. Relapse Prevention. 23 No. 2, 151-160. National Association of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapists, (2009). What is cognitive Behavioral therapy Retrieved April 1, 2009, from NACBT Online Headquarters Web site: http://www.nacbt.org/whatiscbt.htm U.S. Department of Education, (2009). Theories, Dominant Models, and the need for Applied Research. Retrieved April 1, 2009, Web site: http://www.ed.gov/pubs/PreventingSubstanceAbuse/Theories.html Read More