Group Therapy for Addiction Discussion

Group Therapy for Addiction Discussion

In a 2- to 3-page paper, address the following:

1. Identify the psychotherapeutic approach that the group facilitator is using, and explain why she might be using this approach.

2.Determine whether or not you would use the same psychotherapeutic approach if you were the counselor facilitating this group, and justify your decision.

3. Identify an alternative approach to group therapy for addiction, and explain why it is an appropriate option.

Support your position with evidence-based literature within the last 5 years

Use the attached case study to answer above questions Group Therapy for Addiction Discussion.

1. Psychotherapeutic approach used

The group facilitator appears to have used the psychodynamic model to manage Jake’s condition. The model uses psychoanalytic philosophies to clarify the patient’s growth, development and behavior as well as existing problems that are of a psychological nature. In fact, it engages the philosophies to evaluate Jake’s social functioning with regards to his energies, efforts and motivations as part of his personality structure and within his unconscious state. That is to say that the model has been applied to explain Jake’s condition, particularly the causes of his deteriorating relationship with his family as well as the alcoholism. Applying the model, the counselor has developed an accepting, empathetic and understanding relationship that seeks to promote confidence and trust. In addition, the counselor considers Jake’s actual problems and the way they affect his social relationships to include the disability, social context and problem’s impact that describe what is wrong in Jake’s family and how to arrive at an acceptable and long-lasting solution (Thompson, 2016). In this respect, the group facilitator used the psychodynamic model.

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2. Whether I’d use the same psychotherapeutic approach

Given the same case, I would not use the same psychotherapeutic approach (psychodynamic model). Rather, I would use the person-centered model to treat Jake since it is the better-structured tool for addressing his needs. It is true that Jake is a veteran who is facing a progressively more multifaceted society that is suffused social difficulties that place a pressure on his social functioning and development. As such, he needs counselling services to help him meet the social difficulties as challenges. These challenges include depression, PTSD, and anxiety that have led to the alcoholism and strained relationship with his family. In other words, the psychotherapeutic approach applied by the counselor should aid him to develop intellectual, social, physical and moral capacities in the face of the existing strains (Sanders, 2011). Following this awareness, it would be prudent to apply the person centered model in the present case. The model is applied as a psychotherapeutic approach targeted at the client’s attainment of self-actualization. In the present case, Jake is a veteran who feel’s overwhelmed by his memories and experiences as a soldier that have made it difficult for him to adapt to life at home. In fact, he appears withdrawn and alienated from his family, seemingly not concerned with their affairs an accusation that his wife makes when talking about his interactions with his children (Thompson, 2016).

In this case, applying the model as a counselor would allow Jake, and other veterans in the same counseling group, to identify his limitations and how best to achieve his goal of having a better relationship with his family and even getting treatment for the alcoholism without being overwhelmed. The model (person centered model) emphasizes the need to address conscious needs and state. This is contrary to the psychodynamic model that emphasizes the need to address the unconscious needs and state. In applying the person-centered model, the counselor would address the fundamental problems as existing issues. In addition, the model presents Jake as a products of both the past (life as a soldier and getting wounded) and present experiences (living with his family and working an administrative job). Through attending the counseling sessions that use the person centered model, Jake will acquire a better awareness of his life events and gain the capacity to properly react to problems in his social life so that he no longer alienates his family or turns to alcoholism. In other words, applying this model would enable Jake to interrogate his beliefs, awareness and values as they relate to the discussions within the counseling session (Thompson, 2016) Group Therapy for Addiction Discussion.

3. Alternative approach to group therapy for addiction

Other than the two psychotherapeutic approaches, Jake can be subjected to pharmacotherapy as an alternative treatment approach. Once Jake has been evaluated and determined to show signs of alcohol dependence and abuse, he should be subjected to the Addiction Severity Index (ASI), a consistent rater-administered interview that evaluates seven practical spheres deliberated as being vital in a general dependence assessment. A confirmation of the addiction diagnosis would result in Jake being subjected to pharmacotherapy intervention where medication is used to address alcohol addiction. Reputable pharmacologic medications, notably FDA approved naltrexone, disulfiram (an acetaldehyde dehydrogenase), acamprosate (a putative glutamate antagonist), and naltrexone (an opioid antagonist), together with addiction-focused psychotherapy may be used to moderate alcohol consumption, setback risks, consumption days, and hankering associated with dependence (Gorski, 2016). If these medications prove ineffective, then more potent medication would be prescribed to include baclofen, quetiapine, aripiprazole, sertraline, topiramate and ondansetron that denote possible effective interventions. Once the situation has stabilized, then benzodiazepine medication should be used to prevent withdrawal indications that include seizures, delirium, and alcohol-withdrawal syndrome (Rutan, Stone & Shay, 2014). In this respect, an alternative approach to group therapy for addiction would entail applying pharmacotherapy.

References

Gorski, T. (2016). Problem-Solving Group Therapy: A Group Leader’s Guide for Developing and Implementing Group Treatment Plans. New York, NY: BookBaby/Self-Help.

Rutan, S., Stone, W. & Shay, J. (2014). Psychodynamic Group Psychotherapy (5^th ed.). New York, NY: Guilford Publications.

Sanders, P. (2011). First Steps in Counselling (4^th ed.). Birmingham: PCCS Books.

Thompson, R. (2016). Counseling Techniques: Improving relationships with others, ourselves, our families, and our environments (3^rd ed.). New York, NY: Routledge Group Therapy for Addiction Discussion.