Chemical Dependency Treatment Methods

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Chemical Dependency Treatment Methods Trisa M Pederson BSHS/431 May 29, 2013 Matthew Hicks LCSW Chemical Dependency Treatment Methods Chemical dependency treatment professionals utilize many different treatment approaches when dealing with people who are recovering from substance abuse addiction. The use of chemical dependency models is helpful when choosing how exactly to approach the treatment of a particular client, along with utilizing various therapeutic methods. Rational emotive behavior therapy, psychoanalytic therapy, person based approach, and Alderian therapy are only a few of the therapeutic methods used to help treat people with substance abuse histories. This short paper will discuss various treatment approaches that a chemical dependency professional can utilize. In an inpatient or an outpatient program, the characteristics of a program are often a significant determinant of the outcome of a substance abuser’s treatment. While the effects of these characteristics are not usually evaluated quantitatively, many observers feel that differences in the outcome of treatment can be positively linked to, among other important factors, the quality of the therapeutic staff (Anglin & Hser, 1990, 396). Each stage of counseling interventions should effectively prepare clients to move toward the next stage and work toward preventing regression. Relapse, according to Levin, Culkin, and Perrotto, is inevitable for addicts if they do not have effective “maintenance-stage work” (2001, 271). A counselor needs to be able to correctly evaluate the current stage of a client in order to appropriately intervene. Resistance will vary in intensity at different stages in an addict’s treatment, which means that a counselor will need to intervene differently at each stage. Resistance can be very strong during the pre-contemplative stage for example. During this

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