For this course, you must identify who will be your mock client.

For this course, you must identify who will be your mock client. Your mock client can actually be an addict, an alcoholic, or just pretend to have a problem with alcohol and drugs; however, they must consistently use the same data as a client when responding to your interviews with them. This means the life history they share with you can not change drastically during this class. Sometimes history and stories do change slightly as clients remember more about their life history.

Your mock client must have an alcohol abuse and/or drug dependency problem, along with a co-occurring mental health diagnosis (the diagnosis can be mild or severe). This is mandatory as this course teaches you how to complete screenings, assessments, and treatment planning with persons who have a drug or alcohol problem. Most persons with a substance use disorder also have a mental health concern and/or diagnosis.

For this assignment, you must write a summary of your client’s presenting problems. The following six items must be included in your summary (one or two pages long).

General Demographics i.e., age, gender, length of substance use, the primary concern, and the goal of treatment.

Identify your mock clients’ history of alcohol and/or drug problems.

Identify your mock clients’ history of arrests or legal concerns.

Identify your mock clients’ mental health concerns.

Identify your mock clients’ support systems. This may be family, friends, church, social groups, etc.

Identify your mock clients’ employment history and current status or concerns.

An additional component to this assignment

Read Chapter 3, Individual Counseling skills, pages 45-55 in the 4th edition of Becoming an Addictions Counselor. Understanding the ten objectives of this reading will help you develop rapport with your client. The client will be more likely to provide accurate information during assessments and counseling sessions once rapport has been developed.

Write a one to three-page paper describing how you can effectively use three of the ten learning objectives in chapter three to increase the validity of screening or assessments with your clients.

Upload your paper to assignment one.