SOCW 6202 Week 5 – Discussion: Analyzing Addiction Treatment Plans
Discussion: Analyzing Addiction Treatment Plans
An addiction treatment plan is a plan of action. It provides a map for clients receiving treatment services so that they will know where they are going, how they will get there, and how they will know when they have arrived at their final destination.
There are numerous addiction treatment plan formats, but they all should contain at a minimum these five elements: 1) long-term goals related to each problem or need; 2) short-term goals for each long-term goal; 3) objectives of how short-term goals will be achieved; 4) strategies or therapeutic interventions for meeting each objective; and 5) expected outcomes. The specific objectives should be conveyed in measurable, behavioral terms that state what the client will do to meet each short-term goal. Objectives should be broken down into a series of small, achievable steps that move incrementally toward a larger end goal.
In the Assignment for this week, you began to develop a 12-month addiction treatment plan for Marge. Select a section of the SPP Treatment Plan Template that you created for Marge and post it to the Discussion Board. As a class, you will work together to evaluate the section of each of your addiction treatment plans.
By Day 4
Post the selected section from your addiction treatment plan for Marge.
By Day 6
Respond to a colleague’s addiction treatment plans by explaining one strength and one limitation of their posted section from their addiction treatment plan. Offer one suggestion for how the addiction treatment plans might be improved. Explain what insights you have gained as a result of analyzing your colleagues’ addiction treatment plans. Support your response using the resources and the current literature.
SOCW6202: Treatment of Addictions
© 2014 Laureate Education, Inc. Page 1 of 3
Instructions for Scholar Practitioner Project (SPP) Case Study
1. For your SPP, you will prepare a case study of Marge; the client presented in the media
pieces throughout the course.
2. Your case study will consist of two sections: A narrative case study section and a
treatment plan section.
3. The narrative case study section will be written using the required APA style. You will
use this document as a guide for the narrative section of your case study and include at
a minimum the 18 elements presented below. The final narrative case study section
should be approximately 15–20 pages in length.
4. Your treatment plan section will follow the Treatment Plan Template introduced in your
Assignment for Week 5.
5. The timeline for your case study will extend from the client’s admission into residential
treatment (Counseling Session 1), proceed through her course of treatment there
(Counseling Sessions 2 and 3), and conclude with a discharge plan of her projected
long-term treatment extending through the next 12 months.
Case Study Format
Treatment Plan Section
• Treatment plan developed using Treatment Plan Template and is attached at end of
case study.
Narrative Case Study Section
IDENTIFYING INFORMATION
• Name, age, race/ethnicity, gender, marital status, and any other appropriate information
PRESENTING PROBLEM
• Brief summary of the problem(s) and concerns that brought the client to treatment
• Description of current condition including physical and mental status and attitude on
admission
• Who accompanies client and provides collateral information
• Other relevant information
ASSESSMENT
• Description of how initial screening was conducted to validate the existence of a problem
and make initial treatment recommendations. Include how information was gathered
(e.g., verbal clinical interview, paper-and-pencil assessment instrument) and sources of
information (e.g., client, family members).
• Overview of ongoing assessment process to evaluate severity of the addiction, rule out
the co-existence of other relevant problems, assist in treatment planning, and monitor
progress (e.g., continued more detailed interviews with client and family members,
observation, standardized assessment instruments).
ADDICTION HISTORY
• Substance(s) used and/or any addictive behaviors identified
SOCW 6202: Treatment of Addictions
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• Age of first use
• Family history of addiction (chemical and/or behavioral)
• Progression of use to current stage
• Average frequency and amount over last six months
• Other signs and symptoms of addictive use (e.g., blackouts, increased tolerance over
time, physical withdrawals if use stopped)
• Negative consequences experienced due to use
• Previous attempts to stop on own and/or treatment history
• Level of denial of problem (e.g., none, mild, moderate, severe)
• Level of motivation to change on admission (low, moderate, high)
CO-OCCURRING DISORDERS
• Any other current or past mental disorder or mental health problem
• Signs, symptoms, course of disorder, and other pertinent information necessary to plan
treatment
• Past history of treatment or counseling
MEDICAL HISTORY
• Pertinent current or past medical history related to or affected by addiction
• Current medications (in particular psychotropic and/or prescribed addictive medications)
EDUCATIONAL/VOCATIONAL HISTORY
• Education
• Work/career history including problems related to addiction
• Current financial status
LEGAL HISTORY
• Current or past legal problems
• Current status of any existing legal problems
SOCIAL/CULTURAL STATUS
• Socioeconomic status
• Any cultural/ethnic factors influencing addiction and recovery
• Social/leisure activities
FAMILY/RELATIONSHIP STATUS
• Composition of immediate family
• Description of roles identified for each family member
• A explanation of the potential impacts of these roles on family members
• Include family in client’s treatment plan and a minimum of two resources that would be
useful to them
MODEL(S) OF ADDICTION
• Model(s) of addiction used to plan treatment approach. Rationale for use and strengths
and weaknesses of chosen model(s)
MODEL(S) OF TREATMENT
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• Model(s) of treatment used. Rationale for use and strengths and weaknesses of chosen
model(s)
MODEL(S) OF CASE MANAGEMENT
• Model(s) of case management used. Rationale for use and strengths and weaknesses of
chosen model(s)
THE ROLE OF SPIRITUALITY
• Describe how spirituality could be an important factor in client’s recovery
• Ways in which client’s spiritual needs might be addressed through case management
referrals to community 12-step support groups or other spiritual resources
COURSE OF TREATMENT
• Current level of treatment (as defined in Week 4 by the American Society of Addiction
Medicine’s Patient Placement Criteria [PPC])
• Projected PPC level(s) of treatment after discharge from residential treatment over the
next 12 months and an explanation of why this level(s) would be effective
• Projected levels of treatment over next 12 months
• Response to treatment
• Prognosis for response to treatment over next 12 months
DISCHARGE PLAN
• Summary of treatment recommendations over next 12 months (as reflected in treatment
plan)
REFLECTION ON PERSONAL MISSION STATEMENT
• Conclude the case study with a statement of how personal traits, skills, motivations, and
experiences that you possess might be helpful in pursuing a career as an addiction
counselor. How will these factors contribute to your ability to maintain self-awareness
and a healthy work/life balance?
SOCW 6202: Treatment of Addictions
SPP Treatment Plan Template
INSTRUCTIONS and TEMPLATE for Marge’s Treatment Plan
1. Develop a hypothetical treatment plan for Marge (from the course media pieces) as you think it would look at the end of the first year of her course of treatment.
2. Begin with her admission into residential treatment (Counseling Session 1).
3. The plan should include Marge’s course of residential treatment, plans for discharge from residential treatment, and aftercare plans for the next 12 months.
4. The plan should include all aspects of Marge’s life that are related to her recovery and reflect the case management role of the counselor (e.g., counseling/treatment, family, social, vocational, legal, mental health, medical).
|
Identified strengths:
Identified problems/deficits |
||||
|
Long-term goal(s): |
Short-term Goals |
Objectives |
Strategies |
Expected Outcome (with time-frame) |
|
Stated as broad desirable outcome that will be broken down into short-term goals and objectives. Usually, one long-term goal will be adequate for first year. Example: 1. John will remain abstinent from use of heroin and all other mood altering substances and behaviors for one year as demonstrated by negative random drug screens and self-report). |
Series of time-limited goals that will lead to achievement of long-term goal. Example: 1. John will successfully complete residential treatment. |
Statements of what client will do to achieve short-term goal. Stated in measurable, behavioral terms Example: 1. John will attend and actively participate in all individual and group counseling sessions. 2. John will admit he has an addiction problem. |
How objective will be carried out or accomplished Example: 1. Schedule one individual counseling session and five group counseling sessions weekly. 2. John will complete Step One of the Twelve Steps |
Objective, measurable desirable outcome with timeframeExample: 1. Staff and self-report of regular attendance and active participation in individual and group counseling sessions (30 days). 2. Self-report to counselor and members of group sessions (30 days). |
© 2014 Laureate Education, Inc.
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Counseling Session 1
Counseling Session 1
Program Transcript
Welcome to the first day of counseling for Marge, an alcoholic who has just been
admitted to the addictions facility. Please carefully read the paperwork
developed by a support staff member during Marge’s intake process earlier
today. Marge’s husband, Ken, was also briefly interviewed during this time.
After reviewing this information, click the “continue” button to begin Marge’s first
counseling session. Using your cursor, rollover buttons A and B to review your
question options. Click what you think is the best question to ask Marge out of
the two options offered. If you ask an effective counseling question, you will
receive more information from Marge. If you ask an ineffective question, you will
receive an equally unhelpful response. Choose wisely, because the better you
counsel Marge, the better her treatment experience.
*Please keep in mind that the video has been made in a way that gives you a
realistic vantage point from where you would sit and counsel your client in real
life. A close up view of the individual has not been added because you, as a
counselor, will not have varying angles of your client to work with.
Paperwork:
• Marge C.
• 41-year-old female
• Married
• Husband, Ken, works two jobs to make ends meet, so he is not home
much. Husband noted that he didn’t know what else to do about his wife’s
drinking, and that he had brought her to the facility out of desperation.
• Patient has three children, ages 10, 12, and 16
• Patient was a teacher, but she lost job for alcohol-related reasons
• Patient had a one-car, alcohol-related accident three days earlier. She
received minor injuries and was issued a ticket for DUI. Husband, family
members, and friends determined that they needed to intervene to prevent
Marge from harming herself and/or others.
• An intervention occurred earlier today, culminating in her being brought for
treatment.
• Patient will go through a week of detoxification during her first week in
treatment to address the physical withdrawal from alcohol
[Opening scene: Marge’s admission into residential treatment. Her counselor is
meeting with her for the first time and is conducting Marge’s initial assessment.
Marge is disheveled, wears no makeup, and her eyes are red from crying. An
adhesive bandage is on her forehead, and she has a black eye and abrasions
from a one-car accident she had several days ago She was charged with driving
while under the influence, her first such charge.
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Counseling Session 1
Her posture is closed—arms crossed, turned away from counselor, and avoiding
eye contact initially. She is tremulous throughout the interview due to impending
physical withdrawal from alcohol. She tries to control her shakes but is not
successful. Her mood is labile (up and down, unstable). She presents herself at
the first part of the session as if she is the victim of an injustice and blames her
husband. She’s initially defensive. This shell begins to melt quickly as the
session moves forward and ends with a receptive, open Marge who seems to
have surrendered to the fact that she may need help. Her body posture, facial
expressions, and tone of voice reflect this change as it occurs through the
session.]
Question #1:
Option A:
Counselor: Marge, I will be your counselor. I want you to know I’m glad you’re
here. I imagine this has been a hard day for you. Right now, I just want us to
begin get to know each other better. I also want to know more about your
drinking so we can begin to plan your treatment. It’s natural to be anxious and
upset right now. You look like you feel like that now. Are you?
Marge: Yes, of course I am! And furthermore, I don’t want to be here; I don’t
need help.
Option B:
Counselor: Hello, Marge. I will be your counselor. I want you to know I’m glad
you’re here, and I want to help you in any way I can. I imagine this has been a
hard day for you, and I know that you and your husband have already answered
many questions during your admission process. Right now, I just want us to
begin get to know each other better. I also want to know more about your
drinking so we can begin to plan your treatment. It’s natural to be anxious and
upset right now. Tell me your thoughts and feelings right now.
Marge: You’re right, I am anxious, and I’m more than that right now! I’m hurt, I’m
scared, and I’m furious at my husband Ken for dragging me to this place. I want
you to know right now I am not here on my own; I am here only because he and
my so-called friends threatened to have me committed involuntarily for “my own
safety,” as they say, if I didn’t agree to do it myself.
I know I drink too much, but I can handle it myself. I don’t need to be put in this
rehab and hid away from the rest of the world to do it. I’m not like the other
people you have here; they might need help, but I can do it on my own. I don’t
need help.
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Counseling Session 1
Question #2
Option A:
Counselor: You “don’t need help”?
Marge: No. I am strong willed. I know I drink too much, but I have to because of
all the stress. Raising a family, and then when I was teaching…it was double
hard. I have diabetes on top of it all, and I’m unemployed and now this damn DUI
hangs over my head. Then, as if that’s not enough, there’s Roger, my 12-year-
old son; he’s always getting in trouble at home and school. It’s never ending. I
could go on and on.
Yeah, I admit. I drink too much, but I do it to deal with all my problems and my
constant depression. You would too if you were me. No one understands that.
But I can go to AA and go back to that counselor at the community mental health
clinic and stop without all this ridiculous fuss of coming here. I’ve tried it before; I
just didn’t give it all I had.
Option B:
Counselor: I think you’re wrong; I think you do need help, and I want to help you
see that.
Marge: No, I don’t; you’re just like them. No one seems to want to listen to me;
they just jump to their own conclusions about my life. I’ve tried to stop on my own
before; I just didn’t give it all I had. I’ll tell you again for the umpteenth time, I
DON’T NEED HELP!
Question #3
Option A:
Counselor: You say you’ve tried to stop drinking before, Marge. Please tell me
more about that.
Marge: I could do it for a while. I went to AA and that counselor, like I said, and I
went a month or two once. But always things would start piling up, and I’d take a
drink just in the afternoon after 5 like I used to, and then before I knew it I’d be
drinking all day again.
I just didn’t try hard enough. I will now; I know I can do it. I feel guilty because I’ve
been too weak and just never tried hard enough. I know what alcoholism is,
believe me, my father was one, so was my uncle—they went to their graves
drinking. I just need to get strong and build up my willpower to make my mind up
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Counseling Session 1
to stop. I need to stop being such a weakling and an irresponsible mother and
wife. It’s almost immoral the way I’ve been doing, but I can do it now. I just need
a change. I need to go home.
Option B:
Counselor: You said earlier that you’ve tried to stop drinking before but were not
successful. That tells me you need to help. Don’t you agree?
Marge: No.
Question #4
Option A:
Counselor: Marge, let me share something with you that you may not know. We
look at alcoholism and other addictions as a disease. Some people have a
genetic predisposition for it. It’s not a moral issue, Marge, or a matter of lack of
will power. That puts a different light on your situation, doesn’t it, Marge?
Marge: No.
Option B:
Counselor: Marge, I think I hear what you’re saying. You admit you drink too
much, and you seem to think you can stop on your own without coming here for
30 days. You think you just haven’t tried hard enough, and you feel that you’re a
weak and immoral person for that.
Let me share something with you that you may not know. We look at alcoholism
and other addictions as a disease. Some people have a genetic predisposition
for it. People who are genetically predisposed to the disease when faced with the
right combination of conditions can’t handle alcohol. They may start just drinking
socially in a controlled way and then drink to deal with stress or other problems.
Because of their genes, they need more and more and eventually need to drink
just to keep from going into withdrawal. It’s not a moral issue, Marge, or a matter
of lack of willpower. What are your thoughts about what I just said?
Marge: (Marge’s whole demeanor has changed during this last exchange from
the counselor—she begins to make eye contact with the camera/counselor and
relax her defensive, closed posture. She begins to convey a sense of surrender
combined with a touch of desperation).
(After a moment’s silence, reflecting on what the counselor said, then tearfully
begins to talk after a moment of silence) I…………..I never thought of it that way.
Well, I guess I have, but (stammers)…..well…, I…, uh……I can see how that
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Counseling Session 1
could be. ….A disease maybe? It could explain why even though I don’t really
want to be like this I am and that I though I’ve really tried to stop I just haven’t
known how…..(looks down staring at her hands now folded in her lap, the truth
has sunk in).
When we first got married and began to have our children, I would have glass of
wine several times a week with dinner, or maybe even with Ken when we both
got home after a long day at work and the children had gone to bed. Then it was
every day, then in the morning, and then I was hiding my drinking habits and
drinking just to feel normal.
I was teaching, and it got to where I would drink vodka before I went to school. I
thought no one would smell vodka, but it didn’t work. I was fired. My life has
spiraled since then, my children, my marriage, my health, everything. If I don’t
drink now I get horribly ill; you can’t imagine how ill. I start feeling things on my
skin or seeing things; it’s bad. I get crazy, just like my father and uncle used to
get.
I know Ken has tried to protect me all these years. He means well. He would call
the school when I was too drunk to go and tell them I was sick. That’s what he’s
always told the children, “Your mother’s ill, she can’t help it.” Oh help me,
please…
(Marge breaks down at this point, head in hands, sobbing out of control….LONG
SILENCE as Marge’s sobs become more controlled.)
Question #5
Option A:
Counselor: Marge, you just turned the corner, and I’m proud of you. You’ve just
made a giant step today, and you’ve just started on your road to recovery. What
are your thoughts and feelings now as we conclude our first session?
Marge: (Marge has softened; she’s beginning to feel relief that she’s finally
admitted she has a problem and that help is here. She is still hurt and maybe
embarrassed perhaps.)
I guess I just feel grateful that someone is listening to me and understands.
(Wipes her eyes, pauses, takes deep breath)
I feel so embarrassed….my husband has put up with so much, and I know the
kids have needed me and I haven’t been around. I just wanted to take care of it
by myself, do at least one thing without having to rely on someone else for help,
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http:embarrassed�.my
Counseling Session 1
you know? I should at least do that, since I’ve messed up so much already.
(Deep breath)
I don’t want to leave the kids alone for 30 days, but….I guess I’ve left them alone
anyway. I’m scared, but I am willing to try. If you really think you can help me, I
promise I’ll do my best. I have to make it work…for my kids and for Ken.
Option B:
Counselor: Marge, I know this is hard, but until you admit you have a problem,
your drinking will only continue to get worse and cause you and your family more
problems. I want you to think about that before we meet again, OK?
Marge: Yes, I will. Listen, I know you mean well…..but uh… well…uh…I just don’t
think you or anyone else in my life hears me.
Final Text:
Congratulations. You have now completed your counseling session with Marge.
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Counseling Session 2
Counseling Session 2
Program Transcript
Welcome to Marge’s second counseling session, where you will ask questions to
determine the level of treatment needed to address her addiction and her
engagement level with her treatment. Before you begin, please carefully read
through the paperwork that contains information obtained from team members.
After reviewing this information, click the “continue” button to begin Marge’s first
counseling session. Using your cursor, rollover buttons A and B to review your
question options. Click what you think is the best question to ask Marge out of
the two options offered. If you ask an effective counseling question, you will
receive more information from Marge. If you ask an ineffective question, you will
receive an equally unhelpful response. Choose wisely, because the better you
counsel Marge, the better her treatment experience.
*Please keep in mind that the video has been made in a way that gives you a
realistic vantage point from where you would sit and counsel your client in real
life. A close up view of the individual has not been added because you, as a
counselor, will not have varying angles of your client to work with.
Paperwork:
• Marge C.
• Sixth day of detoxification treatment
• Patient is experiencing residual physical withdrawal symptoms. Patient is
shaky and groggy, has been given a mild sedative to keep her calm during
withdrawal
• Patient is cooperative and still open to treatment. Patient expressed
feelings of loneliness and concern for her children
• Patient exhibiting signs of depression
[About six days later, Marge is going through detoxification, which means she
may be a little groggy from sedatives and slightly shaky due to residual physical
withdrawal. Her appearance is plain but more kempt than on her admission; she
has no makeup, the bandage is removed, her abrasions are healing, and the
black eye is almost gone. She is composed, rather down, but cooperative and
still open to treatment.]
Question #1:
Option A:
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Counseling Session 2
Counselor: Marge, when we last met, you expressed resentment toward your
family and friends after the intervention they held with you. We left that as
unfinished business. Share with me your thoughts and feelings toward them now.
Marge:. Yeah, I was furious, but not so much now. I’m more ashamed than mad
and concerned that I let things get that bad. They all had written down examples
of some of the things I had done while I was drinking that concerned them, and
they read those things out to me.
Ethel, my older sister, said that my sons told her they were embarrassed when I
came to their soccer games because I’m always staggering around and falling all
over everyone. My best friend, Emma, told me she found me passed out one day
in the house when she came by to check on me when I hadn’t answered my
phone. You know, I don’t even remember that, but why would she make it up?
Their examples got worse, especially when my husband Ken began reading his. I
don’t want to talk about what he said right now; I’m too ashamed and afraid to
face the facts right now. I need time and help before I can do that.
I’m glad I’m here now; I just hope I can stop drinking for good and live a normal
life. I just hope I can, but I don’t know… And even if I would be able to stop,
there’s all the damage I’ve done in my life in the meantime, to all those who care
about me and need me, and to myself. If only I could ever get sober and live a
normal life like most people, if only…..
Option B:
Counselor: Marge when we last met you expressed resentment toward your
family and friends after they held the intervention. We left that as unfinished
business. Do you still feel that resentment?
Marge. No, not anymore.
Question #2
Option A:
Counselor: Why do you think you’re here?
Marge: You ask me “why”? You’re making me wonder if I’ve done too much
damage to repair. Don’t you think I’m asking myself that same question every
minute that I’m here anyway? Or you’re making me feel as if I need to own up to
ever other single bad thing in my life before I can get better. Well, we could be
here a while!
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Counseling Session 2
Option B:
Counselor: I hear you saying that you think your drinking may have caused too
much damage to repair and because of that you won’t be able to stop drinking for
good. Tell me more about the damage and how it affects your ability to stop
drinking.
Marge. It would take me days to tell you all the damage my drinking has done.
For starters, though, there’s my family. My children have done the best they can
to carry on without a real mom; I’m never there for them, never pay them any
attention. I’m an embarrassment to them. They never bring their friends home.
They have their problems like any growing kids, and their dad does the best he
can to help them. But he has to moonlight to pay the bills since I got fired from
teaching, so he isn’t able to give them the attention they need by himself.
Because I lost my income, our finances are in a mess. Now there’s this DUI
facing me when I return home. I’ve totally ignored my health. I’m a diabetic, and
my drinking is always causing complications. And on top of all that, I’m so tired
and so depressed. I’ve always been depressed, and sometimes it’s like a dark
tunnel with no light at the end. I could go on and on, but it just depresses me
more.
I don’t know how I can return to all that when I leave here, and how I can stay
sober with all that facing me? I realize I’ve got a lot to work to do, the more I talk
about it, and the more I know I need to be here.
Question #3
Option A:
Counselor: Marge, look at me; I’m a recovering alcoholic myself. I took my last
drink 15 years ago, and if I can do it, you can do it. So I know exactly what’s
going through your mind. Until I admitted I had a problem and needed help, I
wasn’t able to get sober. Can you understand that?
Marge: I admire you for that, I really do (she’s sincere). I wish I could do it like
you, but I don’t think I have whatever it is you have to be able to do it.
Option B:
Counselor: What changes your mind about needing to be here?
Marge: That darn intervention; whether I liked it at the time or not, the truth is,
that’s what changed my mind! I didn’t think so at the time, but it brought reality
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Counseling Session 2
home to me. I needed to hear everything they said to me that day. I realize now
my children haven’t had a mother; they’ve had a drunk who hasn’t been there for
them.
The DUI helped change my mind, too, I guess. I’ve never even had a speeding
ticket, and now I get stopped for drunk driving. My name was in the paper, and I
have to go to court, just like a criminal. If I had kept on doing what I was doing,
there’s no telling what would have happened.
My family and friends’ intervention pointed out that I’ve hit my rock bottom, I
guess you could say, before I hit a worse rock bottom than I want to imagine. I
could have never done it on my own. Like I told you, I tried. There are too many
triggers to drink and distractions out there in the world to just up and stop
drinking on my own. I don’t have the tools inside of me to cope with it all on my
own right now; I need someone to help me help myself when I go back out there
in the real world again.
I’m tired; I want to live a normal life. I just hope I can do it, I mean really stop…for
good…I wonder though.
Question #4
Option A:
Counselor: Marge, I strongly believe that unless you have a sound belief in a
higher power or sense of meaning, you will never get sober. People who have
faith can do it; people who don’t have it can’t do it. That’s my firm belief. Do you
believe in God enough to get sober?
Marge: (starts sobbing). No, I try so hard to believe, but I feel so sinful. No God
would have anything to do with me.
Option B:
Counselor: You said you need the “tools.” Let’s start identifying some of those
tools for developing goals for your treatment plan. What are a few of those tools
and personal goals that come to mind right now?
Marge: It seems like whenever I run up against something unpleasant, I don’t
have the inner resources to cope with it, so I reach outside myself to the bottle to
take care of it. I want to learn to relax without drinking.
And then there’s anger. I get so mad at the littlest thing and become a bundle of
nerves. Another thing I can’t cope with on my own is my lack of self-confidence. I
can’t go out in public without a drink; I’m too self-conscious.
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Counseling Session 2
But more than any of that, I think my depression is the main thing that drives me
to drink. I’ve been depressed since I was a teenager; I can’t remember a happy
moment since my childhood. I can’t imagine me being able to ever stop drinking
and live a normal life as long as this depression hangs over me, ever.
If I am stressed, angry, or depressed, I want to drink, and it seems like I am
feeling those things almost constantly. I need to learn to recognize when I am
experiencing those feelings, and do something besides drinking to relieve them. I
used to enjoy running, a long time ago. Maybe if I get outside and walk? That
seems like a good way to handle those feelings instead of drinking.
Question #5
Option A:
Counselor: Before we end today’s session, Marge, there’s one question I want to
ask you. Are you ready to stop drinking?
Marge: I’m here, aren’t I? I never said I didn’t want to try. I just don’t think you
can help me do it. I can do it on my own.
Option B:
Counselor: Marge, several times today you’ve questioned your ability to stop
drinking for good and have a normal life. Picture yourself living that normal life
when you stop drinking and describe it to me.
Marge. Well, to begin with, I see myself being a good mother and a good wife;
that’s the first thing that comes to mind. (Ponders the question a moment longer)
And having a sense of meaning in life, yes, that’s important…a sense of
meaning…(displays a hint of pleasant anticipation on her face) I would be in
better health, too, so that I feel confident when I go out in public. I would be able
to help my kids and Ken instead of relying on them all the time to help me. I
would be the adult, you know? Not another kid that Ken has to take care of, but a
partner.
Final Text:
Congratulations. You have now completed your counseling session with Marge.
© 2014 Laureate Education, Inc. 5