Medications and Counseling The majority of individuals in counseling for substan

Medications and Counseling
The majority of individuals in counseling for substance use and co-occurring disorders are prescribed one or more medications. Counselors are not prescribers, nurses or pharmacists, yet they provide essential support for those whose treatment includes medication. In this paper, students will discuss how they will integrate their understanding of psychopharmacology with the client care they provide.
Consider the following in your discussion:
• your therapeutic relationship approach and how it helps clients progress toward treatment/service goals in general
• the purpose of providing psychoeducation to clients regarding how addictive drugs work, and how you go about it
• the purpose of providing psychoeducation to clients regarding how medications work and what to expect from them, and how you go about it
• the role of the counselor in supporting adherence to medication recommendations (include medication management of both substance use and mental health disorders in your discussion)
• the possible benefits of family psychoeducation on medications used to treat substance use and mental health disorders, including considerations such as support for their understanding of relevant Substance Use Disorder (SUD)/Mental Health Disorders (MHDs)/Cooccurring Disorders (CODs) and medication adherence
• the importance of recognizing signs and symptoms that may require immediate referral to medical services (e.g., intoxication, withdrawal, sudden changes in health status)
Your paper is to be 4-8 pages in length (excluding title, abstract and references pages) and written in APA style.
Medications and Counseling