Substance Abuse Assessment and Intervention Plan

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Table of Contents

Biological Predisposition
Family considerations
Cultural Consideration
Therapy Model
Assessment and diagnosis
Treatment plan and intervention strategies
Ethical and legal considerations
References

Studies show that people misuse drugs because of a number of reasons that are yet to be identified, but the costs paid are very high. This implies that the outcomes of drug abuse are critical to the society. It is identified that drug abuse is dangerous to an individual’s life, particularly in terms of behaviour because it affects an individual’s interaction and relationships in society.

A strong connection between crime and substance abuse exist meaning that misuse of drugs is a major cause of social crimes, such as robbery, rape, carjacking, and aggravated assault. Generating an effective treatment plan that would resolve issues affecting a drug addict is always an uphill task that many counsellors are yet to come into terms with.

In this regard, it is proven through research that the best prevention and intervention strategy is applicable at childhood and adolescence whereby the young people are educated on the dangers of drug abuse.

A 2010 national report on housing survey in the United States established that over 22 million people in the United States utilize drugs on daily basis (Murphy, 2008). A further study revealed that over seven percent of American teenagers are binge drinkers. A number of factors influence individuals to utilize drugs.

In the case of Lisa, drug abuse affects her behaviour greatly because it endangers the lives of other people. She threatens her marriage partner with a knife whenever she is under the influence of an illicit drug. The behaviour of her father and her early childhood experiences affected her behaviour tremendously. In the case of Lisa, her family background is to blame for her current tribulations.

It is reported that she is a Mexican heterosexual with two children aged eight years, yet her behaviour does not match those of an ordinary mother. She was exposed to drug abuse at a very tender age of twelve. Even though she no longer uses lethal drugs, such as cocaine, she is addicted to some drugs, which has considerably affected her behaviour. Her family was poor and lived in slums, with poor economic and social conditions.

Her primary socialization took place in a slum area whereby she was exposed to hardships, such as being forced to fight to prove her strength. She could always witness her father beating his wife. She grew up knowing that fighting is acceptable in society hence threatening her boyfriend with a knife is not a mistake.

As she joined school, her socialization was not any different since she could easily join a gang that harassed other students in school. When asked to explain the reasons for her behaviour, she does not really understand why she behaves the way she does.

The only thing she remembers is her father’s voice getting loud. She even admits that she is simply doing what his father did to her mother. This shows that fighting and the use of drugs is natural to her.

Biological Predisposition

Lisa’s behaviour can be understood from a biological point of view through the study of genetics. This is what psychologists refer to as biological predisposition. The concept suggests that an individual is likely to behave in a certain way because of the genetic makeup. This implies that people with similar genes would likely show some symptoms of a psychological disorder or a disease.

Twins could portray different psychological conditions mainly because of biological predispositions, but not biological determinant. Biological determinant is different because it influences members of the same family in a similar way, but biological predisposition means that an individual could pick up a certain condition or behaviour. In other words, picking a particular condition or disease from parents is not guaranteed.

For biological predisposition to take place, certain stressors should be present, which forces an individual to pick up the condition. Lisa picked up her father’s cruel behaviour mainly because of the environment in which she was brought up. The environment acted as a stressor that allowed Lisa to pick up the violent behaviour from the father (Barraca, Yarto, & Olea, 2000).

Research shows that an individual cannot easily pick up behaviour from parents because of the prevailing conditions. The environment could be different meaning the conduct of an individual would definitely differ from that of her or her parents. If the conditions are similar, there is a high likelihood that an individual will inherit certain actions from his or her parents.

This is true for the case of Lisa who inherited violent behaviour from the father. It is reported that her father used to fight Lisa’s mother daily. Whenever Lisa engages in armed conflicts, she hears her father’s voice. When designing a treatment plan, biological predisposition is an important factor to consider.

Family considerations

The family is the basic unit of social development meaning that it influences the life of an individual in a number of ways. The family is known to be a primary socializing agent implying that it plays a crucial role in moulding the behaviour of children at an early age. However, the media and other agents of socialization, such as the polity, are overtaking the role of the family.

The family influenced Lisa since peace and tranquillity were rare in her father’s home. The father was extremely violent while the rest of the family members could comfortably incite children to fight as they watched. To understand Lisa’s situation, the role of the family should be evaluated. Exposure to violent conduct might perhaps affect the position of an individual in society.

In this regard, an individual would not be able to execute his or her functions appropriately owing to the early childhood experiences. Lisa’s family background is affecting her relationship, which might lead to complexities, such as death and injury.

When designing a treatment plan for the patient in the case presented above, understanding the role of the family would be crucial (Caldwell, Woolley, & Caldwell, 2007). The history of Lisa’s family should be comprehended extensively before offering any advice.

Cultural Consideration

Culturally competent treatment plan would demand that the values of the Lisa and her boyfriend be respected and be incorporated into the treatment designing process. The cause of Lisa’s violent behaviour should be interpreted from a cultural perspective since not all cultures have a similar definition of violent conduct. In some cultures, children are informed right away if a traumatizing event takes place.

Research supports the idea that cultural factors have enormous influence on bio-psychological experiences regarding violence in children. This implies that the reactions of Lisa could be a result of cultural factors since she has always been exposed to violence. This shows that ethno-cultural aspects, such as religion and family values, play a critical role as far as vulnerability of an individual to violent behaviour is concerned.

Lisa could be manifesting violent behaviour mainly because of her cultural background whereby children are allowed to engage in fights to prove their strength. The way she would respond to the treatment plan depends on cultural factors. In this regard, the counsellor will have a number of roles to play as far as the influence of cultural factors is concerned.

The first thing the psychologists would do is to recognize cultural disparities in the biased insight of trauma and response. Moreover, the counsellor would need to comprehend the role of values in the understanding of shock and revitalization process. Through this understanding, the social worker would be in a position to assist Lisa to bring back a sense of security through trust building.

Therapy Model

Before addressing the consequences of any disorder or disease, it must be diagnosed for proper analysis and recommendation. Studies show that family therapy model is an effective tool of addressing psychological problems such as depression, digestive disorders, chronic disorders, drug abuse, issues related to parenting, and issues that come about in relationships.

Family therapy is effective as compared to other traditional therapies because it involves all family members in resolving issues affecting them. Scholars in the field of mental health appreciate the role of family therapy meaning that they also endorse family and marriage therapists to conduct diagnosis.

Some observe that there is no adequate literature in the field of family and marriage therapy, which prevents effective diagnosis. Moreover, misunderstanding the process of assessment and diagnosis among family therapists is another reason cited.

Assessment and diagnosis

Assessment refers to the treatment process of identifying the signs and symptoms, which are associated with mental and emotional disorders. The disorders are then compared with the standardized disorders. It should be noted that the treatment process should be based on the health condition of the patient because patients differ based on their coping abilities.

The therapist develops a treatment plan after completing the process of diagnosis. The treatment plan helps in the process of alleviating the symptoms. Some instruments are utilized in the process of diagnosis and measuring the condition of the patient, including psychometric instruments (Kreppner, 2005).

Family therapy is a process that uses systemic and relational theories in diagnosing and treating patients, including couples, family members, and families in general.

Treatment plan and intervention strategies

Practitioners in the field of counselling employ a number of trauma treatment models and strategies. Trauma-informed assessment is one of the intervention strategies that could be used to deal with issues facing Lisa. This means that the role of each actor is important. Therefore, a critical review should be conducted to determine the role of each person as far as managing a traumatic event or situation is concerned.

Based on this, it is true that each person has a role to play in initiating trauma-informed practices (Stevens, & Smith, 2013). To support traumatized individuals, such as Lisa, certain terms should be evaluated in detail. Counsellors and specialized psychologists should change their approach in terms of addressing the problems that traumatized individual go through.

Ethical and legal considerations

Psychological code of conduct demands that counsellors observe the set rules and regulations in addressing issues facing their clients. For instance, they should not share critical information with other third party agents.

Any given discussed in the treatment room should not be exposed to any person. Regarding legal considerations, the methods that a psychologist decides to apply should be compliant with the internationally and nationally recognized standards.

References

Barraca, J., Yarto, L., & Olea, J. (2000). Psychometric properties of a new family life satisfaction scale. European Journal of Psychological Assessment, 16(2), 98–100.

Caldwell, B., Woolley, S., & Caldwell, C. (2007). Preliminary estimates of cost-effectiveness for marital therapy. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 33(3), 392–406.

Kreppner, K. (2005). Family assessment and methodological issues: Discussion. European Journal of Psychological Assessment, 21(4), 249–254.

Murphy, J.J. (2008). Solution-focused counselling in schools (2nd ed.). Alexandria, VA: American Counselling Association.

Stevens, P., & Smith, R. L. (2013). Substance abuse counselling: Theory and practice (5th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.

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