SOCW 6202 Week 8 – Discussion 1: Contributing to Community Recovery
Discussion 1: Contributing to Community Recovery
The damaging effects of disaster on mental health and the increased vulnerability to addiction of survivors are well documented. The most common conditions that follow a disaster are post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression, grief, and an increase in substance abuse and addictive behaviors (Beaudoin, 2011; Cepeda, Valdez, Kaplan, & Hill, 2010; Johnson & Fendrich, 2009).
As a helping professional, it is essential that you become familiar with federal and local regulations that can impact your role in community recovery.
For this Discussion, review the two scenarios below. Choose one of the scenarios and reflect on the ways in which government and community organizations might contribute to the treatment of addiction.
Scenario B: You are the director of a local addiction treatment center in a small Midwestern town of 20,000. A tornado has struck the community, cutting a path of destruction through the entire town and causing hundreds of thousands of dollars in property damage. More devastating, the tornado has resulted in a huge loss of life, including the deaths of over 100 children who were in the local elementary school. Many families are left homeless and grieving over the loss of their property, businesses, friends, and loved ones. The loss of such a large number of children has a particularly serious impact on the emotional well-being of the town’s citizens.
Provide a 300-word Discussion Post responding to the scenario that you selected. Explain how you might direct your staff or helping professionals at the addiction treatment center to contribute to the community’s recovery. Explain what your goals would be in the community recovery effort. Then, explain how federal and local government regulations might impact an addiction counselor’s ability to contribute to this community’s recovery. Support your response using the Resources and the current literature.
Week 8: Crisis Intervention and Effects of Traumatic Events on Addiction
Helping professionals providing support to victims of trauma often encounter people who attempt to deal with their losses through self-medicating. One client may turn to alcohol to get to sleep at night. Another client may find relief for her constant anxiety through prescription medications. After losing his wife and two young children to a disaster, another client may blame himself for their deaths and seek to forget everything through abusing heroin.
Learning Objectives
Students will:
· Analyze the role of helping professionals in community recovery
· Analyze the impact of government regulations on the role of helping professionals in community recovery
· Analyze the influence of perceived crises on addiction
· Evaluate crisis intervention models
Learning Resources
Note:
To access this week’s required library resources, please click on the link to the Course Readings List, found in the
Course Materials
section of your Syllabus.
Required Readings
Kewley, S. (2019). Changing identities through Staging Recovery: The role of community theatre in the process of recovery. The Arts in Psychotherapy, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aip.2019.02.002
National Council for Behavioral Health (6AD). (February 2016). Behavioral Health Pros to Congress: Fund Addiction Recovery Bill, Expand Community Mental Health Network. Business Wire.
PR Newswire. (2018, April 24). Recovery Centers of America invites communities to unite against addiction. PR Newswire US.
San Luis, G., Hortensia, A., Avendaño, A., & Manuel, A. (2018). Barriers to addiction prevention and treatment in communities with organized crime: the perspective of health providers. Salud Mental, 41(2), 73-80.
Discussion 1: Contributing to Community Recovery
The damaging effects of disaster on mental health and the increased vulnerability to addiction of survivors are well documented. The most common conditions that follow a disaster are post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression, grief, and an increase in substance abuse and addictive behaviors (Beaudoin, 2011; Cepeda, Valdez, Kaplan, & Hill, 2010; Johnson & Fendrich, 2009).
As a helping professional, it is essential that you become familiar with federal and local regulations that can impact your role in community recovery.
For this Discussion, review the two scenarios below. Choose one of the scenarios and reflect on the ways in which government and community organizations might contribute to the treatment of addiction.
Scenario B
: You are the director of a local addiction treatment center in a small Midwestern town of 20,000. A tornado has struck the community, cutting a path of destruction through the entire town and causing hundreds of thousands of dollars in property damage. More devastating, the tornado has resulted in a huge loss of life, including the deaths of over 100 children who were in the local elementary school. Many families are left homeless and grieving over the loss of their property, businesses, friends, and loved ones. The loss of such a large number of children has a particularly serious impact on the emotional well-being of the town’s citizens.
Provide a 300-word Discussion Post responding to the scenario that you selected. Explain how you might direct your staff or helping professionals at the addiction treatment center to contribute to the community’s recovery. Explain what your goals would be in the community recovery effort. Then, explain how federal and local government regulations might impact an addiction counselor’s ability to contribute to this community’s recovery. Support your response using the Resources and the current literature.