Treatment approach

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Biopsychosocial-Spiritual Treatment Approach

Selected Individuals:

The two individuals selected for this assignment are Amy and Anna from scenarios #1 and #3. Amy is 53 years Caucasian female, married with two children. Amy is suffering from alcohol addiction and has drunk socially since college, where she met her husband. Although Amy and her husband have successful careers, she struggles with alcoholism and finding quality time with him. Amy confesses to drinking several times a week and every evening after work. The drinking habit is taking a toll on her marriage, work, and social life. For example, Amy stated that she quarrels with her husband over little things. Secondly, the addiction also impacts Amy's work since she is increasingly finding it challenging to keep up with her work schedule, parenting, and domestic work. In addition, Amy's relationship with her children and friends, especially women, has deteriorated.

Anna is a 17-year-old Latina female in detention for drinking Alcohol and smoking marijuana at school. At an early age, Anna experienced sexual trauma and abuse from her uncle. Despite trying to tell her father about the abuse, she did not get help from both parents. Anna's father even slapped and verbally abused her for talking about it and called her a slut. Anna's mother could not do anything because she experienced similar physical and emotional abuse from her husband and refused to seek a divorce because it was against her religious belief. Anna feels alienated as such. She snuck out of the house frequently and stayed longer hours after school. She started having sex and indulging in substance use every weekend at age 12. The habit continued, and Anna began to bring Alcohol and marijuana to school and shared them with friends. The school resource officer caught Anna drinking and smoking marijuana at her high school for the fourth time and reported the incident. Anna was detained and now worries about her father's reaction.

Applying a Biopsychosocial-Spiritual Treatment Approach:

A biopsychosocial-spiritual treatment approach will entail assessing the factors that will play a vital role in Amy and Anna's treatment. Social work is centered on the person-in-the environment and biopsychosocial-spiritual emphasizes a holistic view of the person in the context of their environment. Steiker, Grahovac, & White (2014) explained that the biopsychosocial-spiritual model of human behavior emerges from understanding the contributions of biological, neurophysiological, psychological, and socioenvironmental factors and their interactions with a person's behavior. Addiction does not affect a single part of the individual. It affects every organ of the person. Therefore, the inclusive approach will provide the best treatment in the recovery process. For Amy, it will be essential to examine the factors contributing to her alcohol abuse from college. For example, the social worker will assess her family history using a genogram. Also, ecomap will assess her support system and available resources, environment, and spirituality will be essential to understand her religious belief, which is critical to creating an individualized intervention plan. Secondly, the social worker will need to know if Amy ever seeks help while in college.

Collegiate recovery programs (CRPs) are networks of services and fellowship-oriented groups designed to meet the support needs of college students in or in need of recovery. Steiker, Grahovac, & White (2014) asserts that collegiate recovery programs can provide a holistic refuge on the college campus for students to explore, understand, and experience recovery while still pursuing their academics in the college environment. Such settings provide college students with a supportive environment that, by making a recovery normative rather than stigmatized, creates a safe space for transformative, positive social connections and skills as they pursue academic, career, and personal goals.

Addiction Impacts:

Addiction can lead to several adverse physical implications on the body and mind. Firstly, addiction can harm the body's organs and alter the brain's structure. According to Palamar et al. (2018), alcohol addiction causes inflammation of the liver, leading to a condition known as cirrhosis. Alcohol can also reduce the daily physical function of an individual. For instance, Amy is finding it challenging to keep up with her schedule at work and doing house chores because of Alcohol's effects. Smoking addiction is also associated with lung cancer and other developmental processes. Anna's exposure to lung cancer and heart problems is higher since she is still developing.

The emotional effects of addiction are that it can lead to depression and dependency (Capuzzi & Stauffer, 2020). In the case of Amy, she became dependent on Alcohol and could not function properly without it. Anna had also become dependent as she had been seen several times before she got arrested for drinking Alcohol and smoking marijuana at school. Amy also demonstrated some elements of depression due to alcoholism when she stated that her children might be upset with her habit. In contrast, Anna is terrified and depressed about her father's reaction to her drinking and smoking behaviors.

One of the social impacts of addiction is that it destroys relationships (Palamar et al., 2018). In the case of Amy, her marriage is in turmoil, and she is in constant arguments with her husband because of alcoholism. Amy's relationship with her children and friends deteriorated due to the addiction. In the case of Anna, her relationship with her family is terrible, and she finds social security and recognition from her drinking peers. She has distanced herself from the family. Anna is also likely to lose friends if she continues drinking. Blakey (2016) asserted that addiction impacts spiritual well-being by deteriorating one's relationship with God or other spiritual beings. Amy does not believe in God and confesses that wine is her only best friend. In other words, Alcohol has compromised Amy's spiritual well-being (Horton & Luna, 2016). Although the case does not mention Anna's spirituality, it is evident that drinking and smoking have harmed her spiritual well-being. She engages in destructive behaviors like having sex at an early age and taking Alcohol to school, which is unexpected for a child from a religious family.

Influence of the Differences on Treatment Approaches:

Amy is an adult struggling with alcohol addiction, while Anna is an adolescent suffering from alcohol and substance abuse. Therefore, their treatment approaches will differ based on age and context. Amy will need Level II Intensive Outpatient or Partial Hospitalization. The program provides relapse prevention programming, and treatment is designed to meet the multidimensional needs of people with addiction and comorbid conditions (Edwards, 2018). Due to her everyday drug use, she will need to be evaluated medically to determine if she needs Detox. The same approach will be applied to Anna. As explained above, developing an individualized treatment plan entails considering the biopsychosocial-spiritual factors that lead to Anna's substance use. However, Anna is underage and will require her parents to consent for her. Also, she will need social skills, juvenile trauma, and level I substance addiction treatment. Individual therapy like Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and counseling will help with the addiction, while family therapy will address the precipitating factors (Capuzzi & Stauffer, 2020). Anna will also need to access resources, such as a support group or peer recovery to facilitate her recovery.

References:

Blakey, J. M, (2016). The role of spirituality in helping African American women with histories of trauma and substance abuse heal and recover. Social Work and Christianity, 43(1), 40- 59. https://www.nacsw.org/RC/49996633.pdf#page=44

Capuzzi, D., & Stauffer, M. D. (2020). Foundations of addictions counseling (4th ed.): Pearson Education, Inc. ISBN 13: 978-0-13-516693-2.

Edwards, D. (2018). Levels of treatment for substance abuse. Psych Central. Retrieved from https://psychcentral.com/lib/levels-of-treatment-for-substance-abuse/

Horton, E. G., & Luna, N. (2016). Spirituality in the treatment of substance use disorders: Proposing the Three-legged Stool as a model for intervention. Journal of Religion & Spirituality in Social Work: Social Thought, 35(3), 179-199. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15426432.2015.1067585?journalCode=wrsp20

Palamar, J. J., Griffin-Tomas, M., Acosta, P., Ompad, D. C., & Cleland, C. M. (2018). A comparison of self-reported sexual effects of Alcohol, marijuana, and ecstasy in a sample of young adult nightlife attendees. Psychology & Sexuality, 9(1), 54-68. https://doi.org/10.1080/19419899.2018.1425220

Steiker, L. K. H., Grahovac, I., & White, W. L. (2014). Social work and collegiate recovery programs. Social Work, 59(2), 177–180. https://doi.org/10.1093/sw/swu012