Conducting Treatment Sessions for Adults who are Addicted

Group Counseling –
Conducting Treatment sessions for Adults who are Addicted
Dorris Williams
August 31, 2016
Your Institution of affiliation
Abstract
One of the most effective parts of the treatment session is Group Counseling. This is because of the fact that this part puts more emphasis on the Interpersonal interaction that, in turn, helps the counselors “pinpoint and comprehend the patients’ maladaptive pattern” (Thomas & Pender, 2008). Following this idea about the importance of interpersonal relationship, the author believed that if group counseling is coupled with a strategic way of choosing the members – in which it is “culturally, ideologically, and demographically diverse” – then the group’s learning experience will be more efficient CITATION And07 \l 1033 (Anderson, 2007).
Following from the thesis presented above, this paper was conceived with three strategic parts, namely; (1) group planning and design, (2) brochure design and patient screening guidelines, and (3) effective management of problematic situations in the counseling sessions. Altogether, as the author argued, these three parts provide a holistic understanding and perspective of an efficient and dynamic counseling group.
For the first part of the paper, a description of the group’s composition, objectives, and also the reason for its conception was given. The group was constructed with 8- 12 people with Substance Abuse Disorders (cocaine abuse) from ages 18-60. Sessions are held in a time-limited structure that meets thrice a week for a period of three months. Lastly, the goals main objectives are; (1) to treat SUD behaviors, (2) improve interpersonal relationships between members, and (3) prevent relapse. For the second part of the paper, the author designed a strategic brochure that would entice individuals to attend the counseling sessions. To do this the author made sure that the brochure is both low-key and universal. This is also the part that shows specific screening questions that are designed to maximize the group’s learning potential. The author believed that through the use of these 10 screening questions, he can design a more efficient and strategic counseling group through mixing individuals with unique experiences and varied demographics (Anderson, 2007). For a third of the paper, the author initially provided a narrative of the events that traversed during the group work. Then, he portrayed that despite the tedious screening method, conflicts and issues appeared due to personal histories and issues. More particularly, these issues are – substance abuse, conflicting religious belief, and history of sexual abuse. Then he elaborated on how he can deal with these issues. Lastly, the author gave a concise ending on the paper by describing how would he end transition the group counseling session to the ending stage and how would he refer the patients to further services.
It is said that most people with SUD aggravates their problem through neglect. Thus, through the construction of this three part paper the author believed that this could shed some light in the end-to-end processes of a group counseling session. More specifically, on how can a counselor make the most put of the ‘varied and unique individual experiences in order to maximize everyone’s learning potential’. Therefore, by the end of this paper, the readers should expect to learn more from the counseling and screening strategies employed in the succeeding parts of this article.
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Part I – Group Planning and Design
Group counseling is part of counseling treatment that involves the therapy format which tackles issues of personal growth by using social interaction. Interpersonal interaction in groups counseling enables the members of the group to change through interacting with others that allow them to pinpoint and comprehend maladaptive patterns (Thomas, 2007). This article designs a counseling group design for adults aged between 18 and 60 years, who are addicted to cocaine. Chemical dependency is not news anymore in this generation, most people that are in the university get into drug abuse through peer pressure or as a way to relieve stress. The members of this group therapy can influence or be influenced by family, culture, religion, and social groups which have the power to shape self-esteem, conduct, together with psychological and physical health (Brooke, 2009).
I was a drug addict who could not do without sniffing cocaine on a daily basis. I choose this group because I believe by sharing my experience with those who are in the same place I was three years ago will impact them in a positive way. I would like to change their thought on drug addiction since I am a living testimony. For this counseling group treatment, the design will be based on brief group therapy. Due to the busy nature of the members of this group, a time-limited structured group designed to last for three months will be effective. The sessions will be outpatient, three times every week for the period of three months. It will involve residential treatment because of the issue of jobs and social support. The sessions will include peer discussion to promote social reinforcement (National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2015).
For the group to be effective in reaching out to individuals, the number will be between 8 to 12 members. This is to increase the chance of a one on one interaction in efforts to promote therapy through interpersonal interaction. The group will appoint a qualified professional leader who will be the counselor and have a formal structure of hierarchical leadership meaning there will be a co-leader. Participation will be involuntary or voluntary.
The goals of the group will be:
* Relapse prevention: the group will have a workable plan for individual group members, and this will be one of the primary objectives.
* Eventual behavior change of members by the end of the three months.
* To improve interpersonal relationships between members.
* Productively address each problem that participants present during the group therapy.
Part II – Screening Guidelines
Patient Demographics and Screening Questions
Patient Information:
Name: Jane Doe
Age: 25
Home address: 3429 W 41st ST, Cleveland OH 44109
Presenting Issue: History in Cocaine, alcohol abuse and rehabilitation
Aim: Relapse prevention
Contact information: Janedoe@hotmail.com | 216 – 98756174
Screening questions (please answer the following, confidentiality will be assured):
1 What is your cultural background? What are the cultural traditions that you follow?
2 What is your Socio-economic status? Any financial circumstances that I should be aware about?
3 Kindly give a brief description of your hobbies, wants, and daily routine. How free is your schedule?
4 What are your specific ideals or beliefs? Are there any beliefs or opinions that you are strongly opposed to?
5 Do you think that you would be able to work well with a group with individuals from different age groups? Why or Why not?
6 What other sessions and therapies are you taking aside from this? Briefly describe it below
7 Do you have any specific needs or conditions that your future group needs to know? (disclosure of your answer with your group on this part depends on your preference)
8 Are there any specific therapeutic sessions that you are opposed to? Are you open in group counseling sessions? What about individual counseling sessions? Why?
9 Have you understood the ethical limitations of the counseling group? Do you have any comments or suggestions to it?
10 Are you open to sharing any personal feelings or opinions with everyone in the group? Why or why not? Are there any specific circumstances that affect your answer?
Criteria used during the selection process
In a counseling session, the group leader must be able to (1) fully understand and grasp the reality of every member of the group and (2) the group as a whole. But even before this, he must be able to create a group that is composed of individuals having varied backgrounds that would not disrupt the session, but would rather help make the most out of it. Thus, in order to realize this, I developed a set of screening questions that would help the group and the members realize their goals. The screening questions include (1) individual, cultural, psychological, emotional, and spiritual beliefs in their "everyday lives" or "while outside the group" (questions 1-4); and (2) ethical, emotional, and treatment thresholds regarding treatment sessions or "within the group" (questions 5-10). As a group leader, I believe that knowing who the individual is and how he thinks in his daily life and while undergoing treatment sessions could help me strategize and incorporate him into a group that would maximize his learning experience.
Rationale for screening and demographic questions
In the first four questions, individuals would be screened based on their personal and social circumstances in their everyday lives. This includes their cultural background, socio-economic status, lifestyle, and personal ideas and/or beliefs. These are critical since these factors can ‘make-or-break’ the group in terms of cohesiveness and dynamics. More specifically, the group leader must be aware of this since they might have; (1) particular cultural backgrounds that are hostile with one another, (2) financial circumstances that might be an issue, (3) lifestyle choices that disrupts the group sessions (Thomas & Pender, 2008), and (4) ideas or beliefs that are unacceptable for some members of the group. Due to these factors, the group leader must always be able to know who the person is and how is does he think, to be able to achieve better group dynamics and prevent “conflict and resistance” within (Thomas & Pender, 2008).
The next set of questions (5-10) is designed to be able to anticipate any future problems that might arise due to the individual’s personality “when inside a group”. More specifically, this part tries to know; whether individuals are (5) open to working with people from different ages, (6) what other treatments are they taking, (7) do they have any specific needs or goals, (8) are there any treatments/methods that they are highly opposed to, (9) do they understand the ethical limitations of the treatment session, and (10) are they open to working with others? Knowing this is crucial for a group leader since the dynamics of the working group is the ‘element’ that would help them achieve their goals. Thus, if they are opposed to one another or “anti-social” in a way, it might be difficult to establish good working relations within. Other treatments should also be taken into consideration since it would most likely deliver the best results for the member’s healing. In line with this, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, (2012) positive outcomes are most likely achieved when "group therapy coupled with individualized drug counseling or is formatted to reflect the principles of cognitive-behavioral therapy or contingency management". Lastly, ethical understanding of the group’s methods should be taken into consideration in order to provide treatment that is “balanced and similar between the members of the group” (Thomas & Pender, 2008), and within “safe-practices” (Anderson, 2007).
Relationships between the screening questions and member selections
Lastly, in terms of the relationships between these questions, we can see that it followed a structured form that would allow the group leader to dig deeper and understand the individual in a holistic manner. As said earlier, the first four questions are dedicated to knowing the individual outside the group, while the remaining is dedicated to knowing him “within the group”. More specifically, you can notice that the questions are arranged in a manner in which the succeeding question is supplementary to the preceding one. An example would question number four and five. The first one asks about the individual's socioeconomic status – are there any sensitive financial issues that the g...