Question

For this assignment, imagine you have been contacted by an agency in your community to provide consultation on how they might improve their services to clients. The agency is concerned that clients with serious counseling issues are "falling between the cracks" when they are referred to others in the community for intensive treatment. Furthermore, the brief aftercare they provide is not accessible enough to sufficiently support clients as they re-integrate into the community.

          Chemically dependent persons with recurring mental health crisis is identified as those in need of mental health counseling as well as other needs. For example, social support. Supose an agency is formed for this group that is concerned about the neglect ("falling between the cracks") of these clients and aftercare of a hospitalization or when they enter the social setting after treatment. First of all let us discuss about the mental health issues of this population.

Chemical dependence can be of different types, it can be drug dependence or other substances (opiods, heroine, cannabis etc.) dependence. People with chemical dependence can have anxiety, depressive and suicidal tendencies, psychotic illness (hallucination and delusions) etc. These illnesses can be life threatening if a person takes chemicals in excess. These people are neglected by society, family and friends. They might have financial and social crisis along with sever health issues. There are many addiction institutions for their support but getting admitted in the institution and completing treatment is challenging among this population. Relapse is major challenge among people with chemical dependence. After treatment, they can be exposed to the same chemical, chances of relapse increase or we can say success rate is low. Failure in treatment and high expenses can cause one to be neglected by their family, friends and centres as well. The motivation level of the client also decreases due to these reasons. A counselor can help give resources (NA meetings being available in their community) as well as skills needed to help one not to relapse. Cognitive behavioral therapy, family counseling, and other therapy approaches can help people recovering from addiction stay clean ("counseling ," 2017, para. 2). Psychotherapy can also treat the other mental health conditions that often contribute to addiction ("counseling ," 2017, para. 2). Chemical dependence affects all areas (personal, social, and professional) of the person.

People who have an addiction usually have some other type of mental illness, these two together are called a co-occuring disorder. In the past the medical field was not aware of co-occuring diagnosis and were only treating one illness. If someone was a drug addict and suffering from depression the professionals would only treat their depression. This caused for the addict to use drugs more, even though their depression was being treated. All illnesses must be treated together or the person will not be successful with recovery/treatment.

Around the 1980s, however, researchers and medical professionals began studying the ways that addiction and mental health issues interacted with each other ("Addiction," 2014, para. 3). A survey from 1989 suggests an even higher connection between mental disorders and smoking addiction, with more than 70% of all respondents listing that they have both a mental health issue and a smoking addiction ("Addiction," 2014, para. 3).

Now the medical field is understanding co-occurring disorders and mental health professionals are using intergrated treatment. After these disorders have been identified the counselor may use a holistic treatment and treat all mental health issues as well as the addiction.

Counseling Services across the Continuum

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Describe the agency that is requesting consultation, specifying where their services are located within the continuum of care available in the community. Briefly outline the services they provide, such as outpatient services, inpatient services, partial hospitalization, or aftercare, and describe the other professionals or entities to whom they can refer clients for coordinated care.

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Answer 1

Many agencies that are associated with the treatment and/or diagnosis of mental health disorders deal with both outpatient services and inpatient services, although the latter is more so dependent upon the periodicity of their personnel, that is, the professionals who deal with the respective clients within the given community.

Mental healthcare patients usually forge a comfort level with one given professional at a time, whom they expect to have periodic meetings with - as it is difficult as well as mentally exhausting to break through the ice with a new professional every time no matter how equipped they are in their filed of expertise. In order to have an after math program, which is efficient and involves patients following up on their own accord - as and when it is required off of them - it is necessary to establish a healthy and trustworthy bond with the patients wherein they trust the instincts and follow up care routines designated to them by the agency.

A partnership can be established between the given agency and the other healthcare unit for coordinated care of their respective clients; so that there is a concurrent bond establishment in the eyes of the client pertaining to both the agencies - hence increasing the success rate of the follow up health care routine.