Treatment Goals for Substance Abuse and Mental Health

Studies have found that on average 47% of adults have an addictive disorder in their lifetime. Addictive substances can include drugs, tobacco, alcohol, gambling, and any other substance that is used as a maladaptive coping mechanism. Maybe you want to get your master’s degree or earn your black belt. These are big goals that will take time to achieve, so make a list of the small steps you can take to get started. No matter how long it takes you, knowing that you’re working toward a dream can give you something to look forward to and fill your life with a sense of purpose. While you can’t set goals that require action from someone else, you can set a goal to put in the time and effort to foster your friendships and relationships.

The comparable figure in the Bureau of Labor Statistics sample was that 45 percent of EAPs were in DSP firms. This comparison is noted because the Backer and O’Hara survey needs to be viewed cautiously; the survey response rate was 16.2 percent, and the sample of EAPs was not selected from an enumerated list or sampling framework. The U.S. General Accounting Office (1988) reviewed 10 other surveys of employers from 1985 to 1989.

Mental health goals

More broadly, many courts and correctional systems use commitment or referral to community-based treatment programs—usually programs involving close supervision, such as residential facilities—as alternatives or adjuncts to probation or parole. Half or more of the several hundred thousand admissions to community-based residential and outpatient drug treatment programs are on probation or parole at admission. These statistics are a direct manifestation of the criminal-medical policy idea (see Chapter 2). However, many people seek or are referred to substance use treatment only after a crisis, such as an overdose, or through involvement with the criminal justice system.

Keeping these components in mind will help you focus on making goals clear and attainable. Using the SMART goal strategy prevents you from making vague goals and facing disappointment because your plans are out of sober house reach. If you can regulate your emotions and redirect them, you can manage them without the use of substances. This allows you to talk yourself down when you start to feel like you’re spiraling out of control.

Division of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse – IDHS 4650

Counselors and therapists can help a person work through their feelings and help uncover whatever the underlying cause may be. Therapists may use a variety of techniques including Motivational Enhancement Therapy (MET), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), and Dialectal Behavioral Therapy to help patients deal with trauma and change their behaviors. Many traditional support groups are faith-based 12-step programs.

For many years, addiction treatment involved being admitted to lodging homes, inebriate homes, or sanitoriums (i.e., mental institutions) until a person “dried out”—or detoxed from substances—without medical treatment. The ultimate goal of a substance use treatment plan is to guide and support you as you create a happier, healthier, substance-free life for yourself. Having a treatment plan helps you and your therapist establish expectations, set goals, and monitor progress.

Closeness Circle Interpersonal Therapy Worksheet

Although change is ultimately in the hands of the patient, counselors can adapt their style to help enhance their clients’ motivation throughout each stage of recovery. The counselor’s role goes far beyond simply listening, teaching and offering advice. While this trust takes time to develop, patients should eventually feel comfortable speaking freely during sessions, feel relief after an appointment and feel a desire to go back. Consider using the following SMART goal examples to guide your brainstorming. Keep in mind the best goals are personalized to you, so don’t be afraid to personalize the goals you find. Early recovery is one of the hardest challenges a person can face.

• Court orders or other criminal justice system referrals to treatment are not unknown in private programs, particularly in outpatient modalities (Harrison and Hoffmann, 1988; Hoffmann and Harrison, 1988).
• The best services provide a combination or continuum of  therapies and recovery support.
• Only the 4 percent of prison releasees who had served terms longer than five years—almost all of whom were convicted murderers, rapists, and armed robbers with multiple convictions—had a lower rate of rearrest (by about 14 percentage points) than the others.
• Some people also move into a sober living facility to encourage recovery.

They do voice great concern about the cost implications of covering drug treatment under employer-sponsored health plans. One is the tendency to lose sight of drug treatment as such within the much larger pool of alcohol and psychiatric (“nervous and mental”) benefit claims. The second factor is the high growth rate in payouts for inpatient care for drug abuse diagnoses that are attributable not to employees but to their covered dependents, particularly adolescent girls.