Assignment:
Interdisciplinary Treatment Case Study
This discussion will give you practice in creating a treatment plan for a client that requires collaboration and communication with an interdisciplinary team. Prepare your post after you have reviewed the assigned readings and multimedia presentation from your studies this unit, along with the ALGBTIC and ASERVIC resources linked in this discussion. These sites present competencies for counseling individuals similar to the client in the following case study:
Case Study
Jared, a client you treated two years ago for depression, presents in your office after being released from an inpatient alcohol treatment center. He states that he encountered problems after losing his job last year and was drinking heavily when he was home alone all day. After Jared fell and severely injured himself one day, his partner Kyle insisted that he go into inpatient treatment. Now Jared says he needs to see a counselor as part of his aftercare plan. Jared and Kyle have been partners for the past four years, and own their home together. Kyle is an active member of his church and has a job that provides income. Jared wants to return to being a contributing member of their family as well. He also wants to build new relationships and is considering joining a sobriety group at Kyle's church, but he hesitates because he says he feels confused about his own spiritual beliefs. Jared says he wants to feel better about himself and his life; he wants to avoid slipping back into depression and using alcohol to feel better. It appears that Jared's best chance at remaining sober is to receive comprehensive services.
In your post, address the following:
• Identify the mental health services such as inpatient, outpatient, partial treatment, aftercare, self-help, and social support that could be utilized as part of Jared's comprehensive treatment plan.
• Describe the strategies you would use to facilitate the interagency or interorganizational collaboration and communications to coordinate Jared's interdisciplinary treatment.
• Describe three counseling competencies that will guide you in sensitively working with Jared.
• Create a list of three local community resources that will be helpful for Jared in regaining wellness and maintaining his recovery. Describe how you will help Jared understand how these resources will be of benefit to him and how he can access these resources.
• Discuss the importance of family, social networks, and community resources in the treatment of Jared's depression and alcohol addiction.
Support your ideas by citing readings and Web sites from this unit, using APA style.
Learning Components
This activity will help you achieve the following learning components:
• Describe how a client in an area of practice could be served by counselors across the continuum of care in a mental health counseling services network.
Resources
• Discussion Participation Scoring Guide.
• Advocacy Counseling Domains.
• Association for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Issues in Counseling Competencies for Counseling with Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Queer, Questioning, Intersex, and Ally Individuals.
• Spiritual and Religious Competencies.
• Mental Health Counselors' Use of the Transtheoretical Model in Interprofessional Collaboration.
• Position Statements.
• APA Style and Format.
Readings
In your textbook, Orientation to the Counseling Profession, read the following:
• Chapter, "Mental Health and Rehabilitation Counseling," pages 259-278.
o The second half of the chapter focuses on current mental health counseling issues and rehabilitation counseling, which is a growing area requiring counselor competence and advocacy skills.
Chapter, "Advocacy Counseling: Being an Effective Agent of Change for Clients," pages 458-485.
Use the Capella Library to read the following:
• Burns, S. T. (2014). Mental health counselors' use of the transtheoretical model in interprofessional collaboration. Journal of Counselor Leadership and Advocacy, 1(2), 152-165.
o This article will assist you preparing your post for the Unit Discussion and in working with professionals across the continuum of care.
ALGBTIC LGBQQIA Competencies Taskforce. (2013). Association for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender issues in counseling competencies for counseling with lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, questioning, intersex, and ally individuals. Journal of LGBT Issues in Counseling, 7(1), 2-43.
Internet Resources
Use the Internet to review the following Web sites to prepare for this unit's discussion:
• Mental Health America. (n.d.). Position statements.
• Association for Spiritual, Ethical, and Religious Values in Counseling (ASERVIC). (n.d.). Spiritual and religious competencies.
Multimedia
Complete the following:
• Advocacy Counseling Domains.
o This resource provides useful background information for completing your discussion in this unit and the Unit 9 assignment.
Learning Components
This activity will help you achieve the following learning components:
• Complete an Internet search of all agencies that offer mental health services for a selected population in your community.
• Locate mental health counseling services available for a client across the continuum of care, considering inpatient, outpatient, partial treatment, and aftercare options.
• Describe how a client in an area of practice could be served by counselors across the continuum of care in a mental health counseling services network.
• Search the Internet to determine who else might be advocating for or against a specific policy, and list these organizations.
• Compare how the organizations you identified may or may not be advocating in the same manner as clinical mental health counselors.
• Describe why it is important to support counselor advocacy and influence public policy and government relations on local, state, and national levels.
• Describe roles and processes of the professional counselor advocating on behalf of the profession.
• Identify how counseling organizations advocate to enhance equity, increase funding, and promote programs that affect the practice of clinical mental health counseling.