Substance Use And Addiction Social Work Essay

Substance Use and Addiction Social Workers
The social work field of practice I will be examining is substance use and addiction. The primary goal of a Substance Use and Addiction Social Worker is to assess and help treat patients who are suffering from addiction and or substance use disorder. According to the (NASW), this field of practice includes influencing the delivery of services by addressing the severe and chronic needs of a patient who has SUDs. This includes co-occurring disorders and polysubstance patterns. Social workers in this field apply and develop evidence-informed approaches that include established interventions and techniques based on current research.
There are plenty of jobs to choose from in the field of substance use

There are plenty of risk factors included in alcohol use disorder such as drinking at a young age, family history of alcoholism, social and cultural factors, and steady drinking over time. These underlying causes relate to the ecosystem’s theory because alcohol is such an accepted substance in most cultures. There is plenty of marketing being done for the consumption of alcohol and has been done over decades. Alcohol is seen in commercials, television shows, movies, sports and so much more. Consuming alcohol has become such a norm in society whether it’s at weddings, holidays, birthdays, weekend events, etc. The more available alcohol is, the higher the chance of consumption. As for the in-person environment perspective, people are always interacting with their environment. If someone is constantly around alcohol and substance abuse whether it be their family, friends, or their community, there is going to be a higher chance of them engaging in alcohol consumption. People can be products of their environment and it isn’t their fault what they are exposed to in their environment, especially if they can’t escape it. The ecosystem theory and person-in environment perspective have a relationship

Self-help groups are a great option for treatment. “They offer a vehicle for people with a common problem to gain support and recognition, obtain information on, advocate on behalf of, address issues associated with, and take control of the circumstances that bring about, perpetuate, and provide solutions to their shared concern” (Segal, 2013). American Addiction Centers emphasize that behavioral therapy may be the most common type of treatment for addiction. This is typically done during a rehabilitation facility. There are multiple types of behavioral therapies such as individual, group, or family therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy which helps patients to recognize their negative thought patterns, contingency management which is useful when treating more than one substance at a time, and motivational interviewing which focuses on addressing their problematic substance use behavior. “Recovery is also seen as involving necessary life changes above and beyond abstinence: repairing relationships damaged through AOD use, dealing with shame and self-hatred, addressing experiences of early trauma, and giving up self-defeating patterns acquired during addiction”(Lopez and Amodeo, 2013). A micro and mezzo intervention that has been seen to be most effective in women struggling with alcoholism are women's-only treatment programs. Research suggests that women-only treatment programs are more effective for