Smith Family Case Study

Student’s Name: Fiona Alendry

Institution Affiliation: Grand Canyon University

Course Name:PCN -531-0500

Professor’s Name: Dr Reuben Garcia

Date:July 4th 2023

Smith Family Case Study

Treatment Issues Affecting the Smith Family

Analysis of the Smith Family indicates that they are affected by alcoholism, yet there are difficulties in implementing recovery for the affected persons. Establishing recovery operations for the family has proven difficult as they do not support known treatment methods, citing them as ineffective. In the case of John, there had been some suggestions from his wife for him to undergo treatment processes, yet he did not believe in their accuracy. After some convincing conversations, John and his wife Margaret started attending Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meetings where they were able to receive advice to stop their vices. An issue occurred as they did not have a sponsor, yet an AA sponsor is imperative in supporting an addicted person’s recovery journey (Kelly et al., 2020). The lack of a sponsor creates an issue when implementing a reliable treatment process.

The case study reveals that alcoholism in the Smith family is a genetic condition since Margaret and John’s parents were both alcoholics. Alcohol addiction usually occurs as a genetically predisposed condition when people come from families whereby addiction is common (Peng et al., 2019). Treatment delivery for the family is thus affected by the issues related to an attempt to deal with the genetic predisposing factors that caused the issue. Another factor affecting the family is their inherent beliefs concerning alcoholism. Margaret believes that her addiction is influenced by her husband, who introduced her to drinking. John believes that alcohol treatment is mainly difficult due to the free will a person is allowed to have when managing their issues.

The issue of not having a sponsor is dire in the case of John since a sponsor provides advice based on their experience in managing their previous addiction. A sponsorship process can implement advanced capabilities for alcoholics to get referred for clinical monitoring if the information they gain from therapy does not improve their wellbeing (Kelly et al., 2020). For an alcoholic to attain recovery, they need to understand the 12 Steps of the Alcoholics Anonymous recovery program. All the 12 steps allow an alcoholic to accept their issue, be ready to accept change, take part in meetings, and seek advice as frequently as they need (AAC, 2023). Since John lacks a sponsor, he cannot comprehend pertinent guidelines that are provided in the steps developed for AA programs, and his treatment progress will be greatly affected.

Treatment Interventions Suitable for the Smith Family

Various treatment interventions are suitable for the Smith family, like the AA program, rehabilitation, cognitive behavioral therapy, and family behavioral therapy. First, an AA program is a suitable method of supporting alcoholics on their journey to recovery, which is beneficial in ending addiction. The case study has revealed that John and Margaret have no interest in AA programs since they consider them not to be beneficial to their wellbeing. Lack of trust in AA programs has reduced the critical impact that such programs offer on other people who need support. The programs allow alcoholics to experience abstinence and reduction in drinking intensity, ensuring the proper handling of their conditions (Kelly et al., 2020). AA programs facilitate better treatment operations by dealing with the shortcomings of addicted persons who attain influencing factors that generate better behavioral changes (AAC, 2023). The existence of support for decision-making will be possible using AA programs as a sponsor for the addicted person, allowing them to receive motivation to quit their addiction using pertinent communication that creates better decision-making.

The second treatment intervention is rehabilitation which will allow the Smith family to attain professional advice for their needs. Alcohol rehabilitation allows addicted persons to receive help by creating a treatment plan tailored to the affected person’s needs, detoxing the body of alcoholic substances, using therapy sessions, and integrating inpatient or outpatient hospitalization in dire cases (Mutschler et al., 2021). The Smith family can consider enrolling in a rehabilitation program as it would allow them to attain customized treatment plans suitable for their needs. A complete transformation in the lives of the addicted persons will be attained when they receive sustainable treatment procedures, which have gradually been known to establish better wellbeing. Collaboration among physicians, nurses, and therapists will be productive for establishing advanced healthcare processes supporting addiction treatment.

The third treatment intervention is cognitive behavioral therapy which integrates counseling sessions for addicted persons. Cognitive behavioral therapy transforms an addicted person’s behavior by addressing their core beliefs, handling dysfunctional beliefs, and transforming thoughts to conform to proper patterns (David et al., 2018). Meeting with a highly experienced counselor is possible in validating treatment methods that are imperative in ensuring the journey to recovery is supported by advanced experiences. John and Margaret can schedule treatment sessions by themselves, where her treatment process will be tailored to her needs. The fact that she believes her alcoholism got caused by John results in the critical need for her thought processes to change. In the case of John, his belief that alcoholism cannot be solved can be handled by advising on the opportunities for change when he receives therapy.

The fourth treatment intervention is family behavioral therapy, which validates methods of dealing with mood disorders, stressful outcomes, and managing intimate relationships, which are required for proper mental wellbeing (Varghese et al., 2020). A perceptual change will be established in the minds of John and Margaret when they consider common mental issues which affect alcoholics, like deterioration of health and relationships. The intervention acknowledges that some family members blame each other for improper behaviors, and this leads to worse techniques when attempting to change addiction (Varghese et al., 2020). Change in the perception of factors that influence the family to start drinking can generate appropriate treatment options suitable for collaboration among the persons involved. Family members can get provided with the appropriate role management processes as they discover that offering emotional support is imperative in supporting behavioral changes.

Discharge/Treatment Plan for the Family

Social Planning

The Smith family can integrate proper behavioral improvements by allowing social planning to be a crucial consideration in supporting their treatment progress after getting alcoholism treatment. Family members can integrate new practices in relationships by involving behavioral factors that occur after different scenarios in the alcoholics’ life, resulting in behavioral adaptations. Planning meetings among all family members will eliminate separation and then improve social psychology to generate better behavioral outcomes. The brain undergoes various changes as people discover social life aspects that affect their external environment (Khaliq et al., 2022). In this regard, psychological processes develop diverse perceptions based on the social cognition capabilities of the persons involved. Margaret can change her mental aspects so that when she interacts with family members, her thinking and decision-making will be performed properly. John can get provided with proper planning of his behaviors when he understands that positive relationships with different family members benefit his growth.

Support Groups

The Smith family can rely on AA programs as the main support groups for ensuring treatment they attain will be deeply embedded in their minds until they avoid taking alcohol. Support groups are reliable as a part of the large construct that different persons are required to attain their personal needs when handling addiction. Behavioral changes after being involved in support groups are justified by studying other topics and promoting impartial outcomes for diverse persons. Analysis of relationship management processes is possible while understanding that it involves various components and people that need justice to manage all personal needs. The Smiths will benefit from the AA program, which validates behaviors that society goes through diverse viewpoints that all collaborate to generate better wellbeing. Support programs are integral since they promote social change in working towards stabilizing addiction behaviors, and it will be possible to implement different goals that promote fair outcomes for other persons.

Goals and Objectives

Suitable goals for the Smith family are to stop being alcoholics within three months of receiving treatment, develop positive relationships, and prevent any more cases of addiction in their family. The goals and objectives will implement behavioral adjustment that is imperative when dealing with competencies displayed so that any person considering stopping their alcoholism can attain help. In any family environment, the person involved can appear organized to the others with them, which is imperative to support growth in their reliability. People can integrate the belief that alcoholic behavior can be changed after realizing the negative outcomes of the vice. The goals and objectives will allow a suitable action to occur for promoting the occurrence of a particular event that supports the elimination of alcoholism.

Rituals and Rules to Abide By

The Smith family can develop a ritual whereby each member is expected to abide by rules like ethical behavior, practicality, and common sense. All these are reliable in facilitating the understanding of behaviors that people include in their lives, which is mandatory to ensure an efficient human process. All these are reliable in facilitating the understanding of behaviors that people include in their lives, which is mandatory to ensure an efficient human process. Elimination of alcoholism is imperative to ensure that affected persons’ health does not deteriorate to the point of having complications. The rules will be imperative in creating suitable rituals for the appropriate approach in the development of ideologies that occur as the family members generate practical activities that others observe as productive behavioral management methods.

Relapse Prevention Strategies

The Smith family needs to be prepared to handle any relapse issues that might occur if no support is provided to the alcoholics undergoing treatment. Relapse prevention strategies include identifying relapse triggers like anxiety, depression, stress, anger, relationship issues, physical environment, and loneliness (AAC, 2023). Assisting John in avoiding the behaviors is imperative in generating support for his wellbeing by curbing the symptoms using professional help and offering positive relationships. Relapse prevention is possible by eating a healthy diet, getting quality sleep, regularly exercising, collaborating with healthcare providers, and attending counseling sessions (AAC, 2023). John can be advised to report any behaviors he noticed in his past so that he can integrate improvement in his life’s activities and then establish a proper method of managing everyday life events. People can show their roles in history by effectively working on social constructs.

References

AAC (American Addiction Centers). (2023). Relapse Prevention Strategies and Techniques for Addiction. Retrieved 30 June 2023 from https://americanaddictioncenters.org/rehab-guide/relapse-prevention .

AAC. (2023). 12 Step Programs: 12 Steps to Recovery from Addiction. Retrieved 30 June 2023 from https://americanaddictioncenters.org/rehab-guide/12-step .

David, D., Cristea, I., & Hofmann, S. G. (2018). Why Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Is the Current Gold Standard of Psychotherapy.  Frontiers in psychiatry,  9, 4. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00004 .

Kelly, J. F., Humphreys, K., & Ferri, M. (2020). Alcoholics Anonymous and other 12-step programs for alcohol use disorder. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.cd012880.pub2.

Khaliq, N., McMunn, A., Machuca-Vargas, C.  et al. (2022). Do social relationships mediate or moderate social inequalities in health? A systematic review protocol.  Syst Rev  11, 91. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13643-022-01973-w .

Mutschler, C., Junaid, S., Tellez, C., Franco, G., Gryspeerdt, C., & Bushe, J. (2021). Community‐based residential treatment for alcohol and substance use problems: A realist review. Health & Social Care in the Community, 30(2). DOI: 10.1111/hsc.13511.

Peng, Q., Bizon, C., Gizer, I.R.  et al. (2019). Genetic loci for alcohol-related life events and substance-induced affective symptoms: indexing the “dark side” of addiction.  Transl Psychiatry  9, 71. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-019-0397-6 .

Varghese, M., Kirpekar, V., & Loganathan, S. (2020). Family Interventions: Basic Principles and Techniques.  Indian Journal of Psychiatry,  62(Suppl 2), S192–S200. https://doi.org/10.4103/psychiatry.IndianJPsychiatry_770_19 .