Psychopharmacology and Bio-psychosocial Considerations for Social Workers

Order Instructions

SOCIAL WORK

SOCW 6443 –Psychopharmacology and Bio-psychosocial Considerations for Social Workers

Discussion 2: Evaluating Substance Abuse Client Cases

Jerry has been a daily heroin user for the last 7 years. He is HIV positive and has recently been diagnosed with hepatitis C. Jerry believes that both of these illnesses were contracted through the use of shared needles. As a condition for treatment of hepatitis C with interferon, Jerry must agree to undergo treatment for his heroin addiction. He is considering the “methadone cure,” which includes daily doses of methadone to replace the heroin. He is not sure that he is willing to give up his heroin use. In fact, he used immediately before coming to his most recent counseling session. Jerry feels torn, but he knows that his life depends on this choice. What might be some compelling information for a client in this situation to know? What is your role as a mental health professional in advocating for treatment?

For this Discussion, review the case studies in the Learning Resources and select one case study. Consider the factors used to determine the appropriateness of the medication used to treat a client’s substance abuse.

By Day 4

Post

• An explanation of the factors that indicate the appropriateness of the medication in potentially treating the client’s substance abuse

• An explanation of the expected side effects of the medication and the mental health professional’s role in monitoring these side effects

• A justification of the medication to advocate for its use to encourage the client to continue with treatment

•

Be sure to support your responses with specific references to the to the Learning resources. If you are using additional articles, be sure to provide full APA-formatted citations for your references both within the text and on the referencing section. PLEASE ALWAYS INCLUDE THE REQIRED TEXTBOOK as part of the references and if possible some of the REQUIRED READING if applicable. Please always start by referring to THE TEXTBOOK, below

REQUIRED TEXTBOOK

Psychopharmacology Demystified 2011

Author: Lichtblau, Leonard

ISBN-13:

ISBN-10:

Edition/Copyright: 2011

Publisher: Cengage Learning

REQUIRED

Handbook of Clinical Psychopharmacology for Therapists 8TH 17

Author: Preston, John D.

ISBN-13: 978-1-62625-927-0

ISBN-10: 1-62625-927-5

Edition/Copyright: 8TH 17

Publisher: New Harbinger Pub.(cc)

Learning Resources

Required Readings

Lichtblau, L. (2011). Psychopharmacology demystified. Clifton Park, NY: Delmar, Cengage Learning.

• Chapter 7, “Neurobiology of Addiction” (previously read in Week 2)

Preston, J. D., O’Neal, J. H., & Talaga, M. C. (2017). Handbook of clinical psychopharmacology for therapists (8th ed.). Oakland, CA: New Harbinger.

• Chapter 14, “Substance-Related Disorders” (pp. 153-160)

Volkow, N. D., Frieden, T. R., Hyde, P. S., & Cha, S. S. (2014). Medication-assisted therapies—tackling the opioid-overdose epidemic. New England Journal of Medicine, 370(22), 2063-2066.

Document: Substance Abuse Case Studies (PDF)

Use this document to guide you as you complete this week’s Assignment.

Optional Resources

MSW home page

Use this link to access the MSW home page, which provides resources for your social work program.