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Self-Help Evaluation

ThIS IS A VERY IMPORTANT ASSIGNMENT – The self-help movement has swept the world of substance abuse treatment. A new client may not be aware of any treatment options open to them aside from those of self-help group meetings, such as Alcoholics Anonymous. While self-help groups are not a solution for every client, they have been shown to be useful in some cases.

As future substance abuse counselors, it is important that you explore and be aware of the different self-help groups and what goes on in these group meetings.

Begin this assignment by doing the following:

Attend a self-help group related to substance abuse. There are multiple options including AA Open Meetings, Al-Anon, Women for Sobriety, and so forth. Information is easily accessible on the Internet. Note that some meetings are closed while others are open. At Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), most weekly groups are closed; however, open meetings are held primarily on weekends when all are welcome to attend.

Information for your area can be obtained through “AA Intergroup” at http://aa-intergroup.org/.

Introduce yourself and let folks know that you are a student. Remember to follow the guidelines of confidentiality.

If you are unable to access a twelve-step group because one is not available in your area, either research an online self-help group or research the implications of self-help groups in general including their strengths and weaknesses.

Write a paper about your experience and make sure you cover the following: Evaluate the self-help group you attended and/or researched. Critique the strengths and weaknesses of self-help groups in terms of their value in the treatment of substance abuse. Hypothesize what types of clients would be a good match for the group that you attended and/or researched. What types of clients would not be a good match? Consider age, gender, culture, race, sexuality, religion/spirituality, and the severity of substance abuse. Include other evaluation criteria for differential treatment. Explain your reasoning. Predict how self-help groups are evolving over time. How can technology be used to supplement and/or replace face-to-face support groups? Appraise the effect on the group experience when involuntary clients are present. Include the effect to treatment, counseling, and collaboration. Recommend several ways to overcome resistance. How may technology be used to overcome resistance to treatment? Include collaboration issues involved in the treatment of involuntary clients using technology.

Write a paper in Word format and make sure you include a title page and reference page in addition to the 6–8-pages of content. Apply APA 6th edition standards to the format of the paper, and the citation of sources.

Use the following file naming convention: LastnameFirstInitial_M5_A1.doc.

By the due date assigned, deliver your assignment to the Submissions Area.

Review the detailed grading rubric. Reference Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc. (n.d.). Online intergroup. Retrieved from http://aa-intergroup.org/

ThIS IS A VERY IMPORTANT ASSIGNMENT

Assignment 1 Grading Criteria Maximum Points Evaluate the self-help group attended/researched and critique the strengths and weaknesses of self-help groups as a valuable treatment modality. 

Hypothesize the types of clients that would match to the group attended/researched. Considered age, gender, culture, race, sexuality, severity of substance abuse, religion/spirituality, and other evaluation criteria for differential treatment. Explain reasoning.

Predict the evolution of self-help groups, including the ways in which technology could support or replace face-to-face groups.

Appraise the effect on the group experience when involuntary clients are present. Include the treatment, counseling, and collaboration.

Recommend several ways to overcome resistance and how technology might be used to this purpose. Include collaboration issues involved in treating involuntary clients.

ThIS IS A VERY IMPORTANT ASSIGNMENT.

  

Unit 4 Discussion 1 & 2? $30.00 Due (Friday) 7/27/2018.   

Unit 4 Discussion 1

Theoretical Approaches and Counseling Techniques

Compare the counseling techniques you observed in the person-centered counseling videos (with the child, Wood), to the counseling techniques you observed in the video that corresponded to the additional chapter you selected in Counseling Children.

Identify the key similarities and differences between the two theoretical approaches in the following areas, using course readings to support your conclusions:

· Typical therapeutic goals for helping children and adolescents.

· Counseling methods and process used by the counselors used in the video sessions.

· Specific techniques used by the counselors, and the client’s response.

· Adaptability of the theory for use with children from diverse cultures and backgrounds.

o APA Style and Format.

[u04d2] Unit 4 Discussion 2

Unit 4 Discussion 2

How Theories Determine Interventions 

Discussion Scenario

For this discussion, first imagine the following scenario.

A father of a 4-year-old boy brings his son to counseling. His son has recently begun biting other children at preschool. As would be expected, this behavior is extremely upsetting to the teachers, the children who have been bitten, and their parents. The director of the preschool has told the father that the problem must be addressed by a professional if the child is to remain in preschool.

The father of the boy wants to get the best help he can, so he arranges an initial session with five counselors who advertise themselves as working from five different theoretical perspectives. He asks them all the same two questions: “Why is my child biting? And how will you make him stop?” He receives the following answers:

Psychodynamic Counselor

· Why: “Your child may have an oral fixation that he has tied to his aggressive impulses.”

· What to do: “When your child’s unconscious motives have been freely expressed and resolved, his behavior and peer interactions will become more age-appropriate.”

Behavioral Counselor

· Why: “It doesn’t matter why; what matters is precisely selecting the behavior you want to change.”

· What to do: “Through observation, we will determine the contingencies that are reinforcing this biting behavior and eliminate them, while simultaneously establishing rewards for desired behaviors.”

Adlerian Counselor

· Why: “It will be important to know what need your son is seeking to satisfy with this behavior—power? Attention? Self-Protection?”

· What to do: “When we find more constructive ways for your son to satisfy his need and encourage his use of these alternate ways, the biting behavior will discontinue.”

Person-Centered Counselor

· Why: “I wonder if your child feels truly seen and understood, and feels prized for who he is.”

· What to do: “When we create a space where your son feels unconditionally accepted, he will work through this on his own and I expect the biting will stop.”

Solution Focused Counselor

· Why: “I don’t know why, but answer this: Are there days when he doesn’t bite?”

· What to do: “Let’s figure out what’s happening on the days he doesn’t bite, and do more of that.”

This whimsical scenario is overly simplified to the point of being humorous. Nevertheless, it underlines the point that the same problem would be understood and addressed differently by counselors working from different orientations. It also makes the point that the answer to what to do is based on the counselor’s answer to why the problem is occurring.

Discussion Instructions

Now it is your turn. Select a common problem behavior that a child or teen might display (such as school refusal, bed-wetting, lying to teachers, sneaking out at night, obsessive fingernail biting, or always losing homework).

· Briefly describe the problem.

· Then, offer responses, from three different counselors who represent three different theoretical perspectives, to the why and the what to do questions.

· Use your textbook to ensure that you design responses that are consistent with the theories on which they are based.

· Offer a rationale, citing your support, for how you see each of your responses as exemplifying each of your chosen theories.

Audiovisual Media

Watch these videos to observe person-centered counseling in action:

· Person-Centered Counseling: Wood Interview, Clip 1: Access this video from the textbook’s companion Web site. In the drop-down menu, select Chapter 6, “Person-Centered Counseling,” and choose Video Activity 1 to get started. Transcript.

· Person-Centered Counseling: Wood Interview, Clip 2: Access this video from the textbook’s companion Web site. In the drop-down menu, select Chapter 6, “Person-Centered Counseling,” and choose Video Activity 2 to get started. Transcript.

In addition, watch the video that corresponds to the additional chapter you chose to read:

· Gestalt Therapy: Jennifer Interview, Clip 1: Access this video from the textbook’s companion Web site. In the drop-down menu, select Chapter 7, “Gestalt Therapy,” and choose Video Activity 1 to get started. Transcript.

· Behavioral Counseling: Laney Interview, Clip 1: Access this video from the textbook’s companion Web site. In the drop-down menu, select Chapter 8, “Behavioral Counseling,” and choose Video Activity 1 to get started. Transcript.

· Reality Therapy: Tim Interview, Clip 1: Access this video from the textbook’s companion Web site. In the drop-down menu, select Chapter 9, “Reality Therapy,” and choose Video Activity 1 to get started. Transcript.

· Reality Therapy: Tim Interview, Clip 2: Access this video from the textbook’s companion Web site. In the drop-down menu, select Chapter 9, “Reality Therapy,” and choose Video Activity 2 to get started. Transcript.

· Brief Counseling: Sarah Interview, Clip 1: Access this video from the textbook’s companion Web site. In the drop-down menu, select Chapter 10, “Brief Counseling,” and choose Video Activity 1 to get started. Transcript.

· Brief Counseling: Sarah Interview, Clip 2: Access this video from the textbook’s companion Web site. In the drop-down menu, select Chapter 10, “Brief Counseling,” and choose Video Activity 2 to get started. Transcript.

· Individual Psychology: Sarah Interview, Clip 1: Access this video from the textbook’s companion Web site. In the drop-down menu, select Chapter 11, “Individual Psychology,” and choose Video Activity 2 to get started. Transcript.

Individual Psychology: Sarah Interview, Clip 2: Access this video from the textbook’s companion Web site. In the drop-down menu, select Chapter 11, “Individual Psychology,” and choose Video Activity 2 to get started. Transcript 

  

The last component of the Capstone Project involves the identification and critical analysis of a potential resolution to the identified problem. In this Application Assignment you will critically analyze one of the potential resolutions you proposed in Week 8. What would be the challenges and barriers to implementing the resolution?

 To prepare:

· Review the “Problem Solving Template” (located in the Resources area on the left navigation bar), paying particular attention to the section on analyzing the solution.

Problem Solving Template

Now that you have critically analyzed the problem/issue the next step is generating a solution. Please review the following steps in creating the problem resolution for your identified problem/issue

Step 1

Identify the goal in developing a resolution.

Using the evacuation plan example, the goal would be to prevent the Hurricane Katrina disaster from occurring again by creating an effective, well developed evacuation plan.

Step 2

List as many possible solutions as you can generate. They don’t all have to be effective, practical or realistic. You can consider what other states have done in similar situations.

A short list of possible solutions for the evacuation plan for New Orleans:

Have emergency management officials trained on a variety of evacuation plans from around the country prior to revising the plan for New Orleans

Develop evacuation plan drills for the city to practice the plan to ensure that it works properly.

Develop ways to educate/inform the entire city about the newly revised evacuation plan including how it works, maps on where people would go and how they would get there.

Step 3

For each possible solution discuss the advantages and disadvantages. Is it a realistic solution? Is it manageable? What are the costs and benefits of the solution? What are the challenges and barriers to the solution?

Using the example of evacuation drills for the city

This is probably not a realistic plan considering the size of the city. It would be financially costly to do evacuation drills as the emergency prepared staff would have to be paid, the National Guard troops would have to be alerted. It’s also probably unmanageable as it would require that the residents leave their jobs, and it would cause multiple traffic jams.

Step 4

Choose the resolution that seems best suited to work in alleviating the problem/issue to include in the capstone document.

· Review the feedback provided in the Week 8 Discussion.

· Consider the following questions for the resolution you have selected:

o Is the resolution realistic?

o What are the consequences of the resolution, and who would be impacted?

o What would be the challenges and barriers to implementing the resolution?

The assignment:

 
 

Submit a 1- to 2-page description of the selected resolution with its advantages and disadvantages. Also explain challenges and barriers to its implementation.

Remember to cite your information for the application in proper APA format and complete citations. Only those sources used and cited can be listed as references.

WEEK 8 ASSIGNMENT

Potential Resolutions by Patricia

 In order to try and identify the problem of why individuals use medically prescribed prescription drugs and other substances, we must ask ourselves Why is the subject using a medically prescribed drug for purposes other than intended? The way we look at problems affects how we study them and try to solve them (O’Neill, 2005). Critical analysis of the problem should ensure that the objective of the analysis is to arrive at a judgment. Assuming that we are applying critical analysis to the problem at hand, let us think about the questions that arise with respect to the problem statement. Most if not all individuals start using drugs to alleviate pain either mentally or physically. Initially, the drug is administered in controlled dosages to address a problem, over time the usage of drugs may cause changes in the functioning of the brain. It may essentially cause structural changes. During the time of such changes happening within the brain, which the subject is unaware of, the brain sends signals wanting to take this drug in order to feel ‘better’ or ‘normal’. Over and over when such signals are responded with the induction of the drug, the individual becomes attached to the drug to a point of no return, which causes the individual to become addicted. The two potential resolutions to identify the problem of the inappropriate use of medically prescribed prescription drugs and other substances that I will chose are: Parental Control and Attending to one’s problems. Parental control in cases where teens abuse the drugs used by parents. Example – A case of kids following parents’ behavior. If either one of the parents is using, the child is bound to follow their path. By restricting the access of prescription drugs in the teens’ presence any such kind of substance abuse can be avoided. Attending to one’s problems; any problem which may cause anxiety, depression or any other mental illness might cause someone to abuse a drug. Disadvantages to this is this is access to the substance itself and too much idle time on hand; advantages to this problem could be hope for tomorrow and improved self-esteem and confidence. Breaking patterns that one has seen through growing up with addicted parents. By attending the problem at hand – Example – be it monetary or relationships, by putting in time and effort with the help of the involved party should help to resolve some underlying issues. Depending on the factor that plays in this issue disadvantages could be lack of access to a person who is trustworthy and lack of resolve or motivation (or) lack of willingness to curb substance abuse; while advantages could be better friendships and relationships and the individual has contended with the idea of self. There are many reasons why individuals abuse drugs. It may be an underlying mental illness, an emotional trauma, peer pressure – the need to look ‘cool’ among friends, lack of ambition or drive, or just plain boredom. Whatever the reason, it is possible to come out of addiction and avoid relapse with the help of guidance, counseling, and support from loved ones.