GROUP PROPOSAL PAPER 1
Group Proposal Paper: Topic Assignment
SaQuisha M. Oliver
School of Behavioral Health, Liberty University
Abstract
This proposal outlines the creation of a psycho-educational support group for adolescents aged
between 14 and 18 years who are at risk for misusing opioids. Evidence-informed practices will
direct the program that offers organized learning and emotional support with tools of
empowerment for addressing increasing prescription opioid use among youth. Mortality related
to opioids is now on the rise; thus, early engagement becomes a moral and public health
necessity. The group is imagined as a healing space within schools and communities, nurturing
resilience, combating stigma, and encouraging affirmative determinants of life.
GROUP PROPOSAL PAPER 2
Group Proposal Paper: Topic Assignment
The crisis over opioids continues to change while the youth come to face prescription
drugs through their conventional and virtual networks. Use out of curiosity can escalate to
addiction, legality, and emotional imbalance, especially for distressed or poor adolescents.
Volkow and Blanco (2021) speak about individualized approaches to prevention that excite the
synergism between biological and social vulnerabilities. Prompt intervention is crucial to avert
future hazards.
Group Type
Psychoeducation should be designed to cultivate openness, reduce stigma, and bring in
individuals and communities for healing, according to Sarkhel et al. (2020). These guidelines
advocate adaptive interventions that inform, connect and strengthen relationships in psychiatric
care. In this educational model, there is an opportunity for collaborative learning which
reinforces a sense of agency in patients and caregivers. When placed within a theological
framework, psychoeducation mimics the call to love, listen, and lead people into wholeness: a
practice that honors both clinical ethics and spiritual care.
Addiction Focus
This group will specifically examine prescription opioid misuse with a focus on those
likely to be abused, specifically oxycodone, hydrocodone, and fentanyl. Participants will be
rooted in a structured exploration of early signs, neurobiological pathways to addiction, and
many consequences, including academic disruption, legal problems, and health consequences.
Merely widespread and considered an important clinical concern-prescribing opioid medication
for pain relief with the intent of abuse- are those immediate-release formulations; Dart et al.
(2021) observed that particularly when taken in combination with other drugs. Hence, an
awareness of such situations and the power to make preventive decisions is an objective of the
adolescent curriculum.
GROUP PROPOSAL PAPER 3
Target Population
This group focuses on adolescents aged 14 to 18 years, primarily referred to through
educational and community-based support. Because this age group is vulnerable in another
dimension of development, the interventions must proceed in a trauma-informed way that is
culturally attuned, creating psychological safety. According to Blum et al. (2022), connectedness,
especially through relationships with family, peers, and school, plays a major protective role in
mental health and fewer risky behaviors. These findings define the creation of the group with
strong relationship engagement as the way toward healing and change in behavior.
Rationale
The nonmedical use of prescription opioids in adolescents is a concern nowadays as early
exposure may impair emotional regulation and compromise mental health for life. Kahn et al.,
(2023) found that the same psychosocial factors as peer influence and perceived benefits of
coping predict misuse across prescription, over the counter, and illicit substances. Peer-oriented
recovery paradigms provide developmentally appropriate interventions that promote insight
into and relieve craving through relational accountability. Schools and youth centers provide
safe places where this intervention may be furnished. Recovery education in these
environments may help in early engagement and in destigmatizing the process of seeking help.
Conclusion
Using a multidimensional prevention model, this intervention group incorporates
psychoeducational instruction, spiritual reflections when appropriate, and peer support. This
approach is meant to enhance resilience, moral insight, and autonomous behavior, and thus
healing is promoted through knowledge and community. Adolescents will develop tools to resist
opioid misuse through guided discussions and shared learning experiences. Empowerment and
proactive decision-making are to be central features of this intervention because they will be in
play during such an important developmental stage.
GROUP PROPOSAL PAPER 4
Reference
Blum, R. W., Lai, J., Martinez, M., & Jessee, C. (2022). Adolescent connectedness: cornerstone
for health and wellbeing. BMJ (Clinical research ed.), 379, e069213.
https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj-2021-069213
Dart, R. C., Iwanicki, J. L., Black, J. C., Olsen, H. A., & Severtson, S. G. (2021). Measuring
prescription opioid misuse and its consequences. British journal of clinical pharmacology, 87(4),
1647–1653. https://doi.org/10.1111/bcp.14791
Khan, S., Griffin, K. W., & Botvin, G. J. (2023). Onset of the Non-Medical Use of Prescription and
Over-the-Counter Medications during Early Adolescence: Comparison with Alcohol,
Tobacco, and Marijuana. Children (Basel, Switzerland), 10(8), 1298.
https://doi.org/10.3390/children10081298
Volkow, N. D., & Blanco, C. (2021). The changing opioid crisis: development, challenges and
opportunities. Molecular psychiatry, 26(1), 218–233. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41380-020-
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