Assessing Clients with Addictive Disorders
Addictive disorders and those that are substance-related are complex, and in most cases, they can lead to significant consequences to their victims. The biological processes which lead to addiction involve the brain’s reward pathways. These circuits give positive feeling rushes and chemicals for feeling nice to reward the use of a substance. The parts of the brain which are responsible for self-control and stress undergo changes that are long-term when an individual is suffering from an addictive disorder. This makes it hard for the person to stop using these drugs. According to Bradshaw et al. (2015), the use of drugs is usually voluntary for the first time. Full addiction development happens via a number of circumstances. However, the brain experiences changes when an individual has a disorder that is related to substance abuse. The changes within the brain can take a long time to be reversed. Addiction is a very hard disorder to heal. In most cases, addiction impacts the lives of people on a daily basis. According to Bradshaw et al. (2015), painful and intense cravings are a symptom of addiction. Such desires for the substance can result in a must use of the drugs and cause damaging effects to society and the individual’s dependents. From the perspective of the disease, the people who are addicted find change to be very hard, given the substance’s association with the brain for survival. This paper aims to examine the video of the Levy Family in the learning resources of this week and then consider the way to treat and assess clients with addiction.
Episode 1
Episode one reveals Mr. Levy as someone who regards himself as a person who takes alcohol every night but does not consider himself as a person who is addicted. This shows a denial of the requirement for treatment. The denial problem is a central concept of drug addiction. The presence of denial is included in alcoholism definition, and empirical evidence gives a demonstration that denial is the first reason that alcoholics cite for not seeking treatment (Dare and Derigne, 2010). Looking into the video further, the perception of Mrs. Levy towards her husband’s daily drinking while she sits in the dark just watching TV is a big problem that she predicts to potentially jeopardize the family. His addiction already has some implications which are ongoing for the family and will have potential implications in the future. The problems in the present include unnecessary arguments between the two. The wife also sees that her husband has changed, and he is different from the person she met first. Possible problems in the long-term include Mr. Levy losing his job, turning to be violent, causing a car accident or developing a health complication.
Episode 2
Looking at the plan of the social worker about dealing with Mr. Levy’s addiction shows that she has some ideas about the personality of Mr. Levy, which are preconceived, and has developed some plans for treatment. The plans are without sufficient evidence and without initially assessing the client to have a look at his cognitive and rational thought process regarding his behavior. His cognitive and rational thoughts are the ones that are supposed to process his behavior into initially accepting that he is addicted to alcohol because he is still in denial. When dealing with health behaviors such as the use of tobacco, the right focus of the discussion and the receptivity of patients rely on the readiness of the patient to change (Williams, 2017). The supervisor of the social worker assigned to Mr. Levy has an understanding of this concept, as it was recorded and explained to the social worker that the client’s needs must come first. The client is supposed to be convinced first so that he can acknowledge that he needs change. From the references that he made to the social worker, it can be seen that therapies are important because of Her option of yoga, new art therapy, and meditation as Mr. Levy’s basis for treatment. According to Fuertes and Nutt Williams (2017), the many psychotherapy studies conducted over several years show the positive effects of psychotherapy for psychological disorders and problems.
Episode 3
In this episode, the therapist of Mr. Levy, having listened to some of the chief complaints, attempts to get into the stories by asking questions that are pertinent so that he can understand that she is listening actively. She did not want him to have room to elevate his anxiety via a discussion of his past traumatic events. First, she tried to desensitize his memories which were distressful, via gradual, repeated exposure therapy in a safe and relaxed space. Among the people who are diagnosed with PTSD, they experience a constant challenge every day. Such clients may have other complications which may be precipitated by this order, and they include depression, anxiety, cardiovascular complications, substance abuse, and respiratory problems. Anxiety can lead to rapid breathing, which will, in turn, cause an alteration in the lungs’ mechanism of gas exchange. According to Huether and McCance (2012), the time a client starts to hyperventilate, hypoxemia without carbon monoxide occurs, and this increases alveolar hyperventilation, which in turn decreases the partial pressure of CO4. This causes a disturbance in the balance of acid and base and increases the PH, a condition called respiratory alkalosis. When there is obstruction of expiratory airflow continuously without any intervention, the muscles of the respiratory system get a mechanical disadvantage, and this causes a decrease in tidal volume. Deep breathing exercises’ immediate effects have different kinds of benefits, such as a great reduction of atelectasis areas.
Looking at PSTD’s treatments, according to Williams (2017), we are supposed to offer patients who have PSTD a referral of exposure therapy and TFCBT as the initial treatments since exposure therapies for PSTD have enough evidence and assist patients in getting desensitized to memories which are stressful via gradual and repeated exposures in a space that safe and relaxed. This strategy made any tension go down during the session of therapy. This approach should be regarded as being ideal and used because of Mr. Levy’s traumatic disorder nature, which has psychological suffering which can be alleviated gradually by introducing a relaxed atmosphere and way of reasoning.
Episode 4
In this episode, Mr. Levy narrates a story that is very difficult concerning his platoon officer’s death. Viewing this through the lens of a therapist, it is supposed to be evident that the client is going through trauma and having anxiety from the happening experienced while in Iraq. Communicating and listening to what the client is saying in an effective palatable language, he acknowledges the urgency of his traumatic experience. Implementation of cognitive processing therapy needs to be put into consideration and aligned with effective communication in attaining a therapeutic result. There are therapists who can be warm, understanding, and very supportive but may not be able to offer much assistance to their clients. It is not enough to be only supportive. It will be enough if therapists assist clients in achieving their objectives.
Episode 5
In this episode, it was seen that the therapist is having problems with the story of Mr. Levy. A therapist that has the role of supervising this therapist who has problems with the client of her story, with the basic concern being the issue of expecting a new kid, it would be good to look for a deeper insight into the particular concerns that she has with the expectation of a new baby and establish whether it is necessary to come up with a treatment plan which will safeguard the interest of the baby, just in case her concern is safety. Drug-endangered kids are the kids who are at risk of getting emotional harm or physical suffering which comes as a result of substance use by the caregiver. Substance use by parents can affect the ability to prioritize the emotional and physical requirements of their children over their requirements for drugs.
Conclusion
An individual whose reward circuit for the brain has not changed due to experiences of addiction coming from positive feelings in relation to the behaviors of reward like being with family, exercising, or eating food that is delicious. All these are supposed to make a person feel good. Substances lead to a production of a euphoric feeling by causing a trigger of huge amounts of dopamine in some parts of the brain, which are responsible for the reward feeling. Addiction happens when the consumption of a substance takes control of these circuits and makes the urge to consume more substance to increase so that the same rewarding effect can be achieved. The etiology of substance dependence and addiction can be controversial, but there are so many people who regard addiction as a disorder that causes compulsive behaviors for several people across the globe (Bradshaw et al., 2014). With the things that are related to craving and diminished self-control, addiction entails habitual use of drugs despite the consequences. This suggests that addictions come from other circumstances, which are supposed to be studied by the therapist before developing a treatment plan, just as the situation of Mr. Levy, who was traumatized, and this could be a reason for his addiction. We are likely to experience patients who will have addiction disorder complaints which are caused by certain traumas, and that impact their life’s essential aspects. A disorder that comes from substance use no longer leads to the same feeling of reward that it had before. Drugs and alcohol use to moderate mood can cause impairment of the prefrontal cortex functioning. This is the part of the brain that makes executive decisions. It alerts an individual to consequences that are harmful, but addiction causes impairment to this.
References
Bradshaw, S. D., Shumway, S. T., Wang, E. W., & Harris, K. S. (2014). Addiction and the Mediation of Hope on Craving, Readiness, and Coping. Journal Of Groups In Addiction & Recovery, 9(4), 294-312. doi:10.1080/1556035X.2014.969062
Dare, P., & Derigne, L. (2010). Denial in alcohol and other drug use disorders: a critique of the theory. Addiction Research & Theory, 18(2), 181-193. doi:10.3109/16066350902770441
Fuertes, J. N., & Nutt Williams, E. (2017). Client-Focused Psychotherapy Research. Journal Of Counseling Psychology, 64(4), 369-375. doi:10.1037/cou0000214
Huether, S. E., & McCance, K. L. (2012). Understanding pathophysiology (Laureate custom ed.). St. Louis, MO: Mosby.
Smith, V. C., & Wilson, C. R. (2016). Families Affected by Parental Substance Use. Pediatrics, 138(2), e1-e13. doi:10.1542/peds.2016-1575
Surabhi, M., Katbamna, H., & Mori, K. (2016). A Study to Evaluate the Immediate Effects of Deep Breathing Exercise Coupled with Breath Holding up to Breaking Point, on Respiratory Rate, Heart Rate and Peak Expiratory Flow Rate on Young Adults- An Interventional Study. Indian Journal Of Physiotherapy & Occupational Therapy, 10(4), 181-184. doi:10.5958/0973-5674.2016.00142.8
Williams, A. A. (2017). Posttraumatic stress disorder: Often missed in primary care. Journal Of Family Practice, 66(10), 618-623.
Williams, E., Kivlahan, D., Saitz, R., Merrill, J., Achtmeyer, C., McCormick, K., & … Bradley, A. (2006). Readiness to change in primary care patients who screened positive for alcohol misuse. Annals of Family Medicine, 4(3), 213-220.
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Question 
In a 5- to 10-slide PowerPoint presentation, address the following. Your title and references slides do not count toward the 5- to 10-slide limit.
Provide an overview of the article you selected.
Assessing Clients with Addictive Disorders
What population (individual, group, or family) is under consideration?
What was the specific intervention that was used? Is this a new intervention or one that was already studied?
What were the author’s claims?
Explain the findings/outcomes of the study in the article. Include whether this will translate into practice with your own clients. If so, how? If not, why?
Explain whether the limitations of the study might impact your ability to use the findings/outcomes presented in the article.
Use the Notes function of PowerPoint to craft presenter notes to expand upon the content of your slides.
Support your response with at least three other peer-reviewed, evidence-based sources. Explain why each of your supporting sources is considered scholarly. Provide references to your sources on your last slide. Be sure to include the article you used as the basis for this Assignment.