Diagnosis for Substance Use Disorder with Co-occurring Disorder

In your professional capacity as a substance abuse counselor, you are not permitted to give diagnoses for mental disorders other than those related to substance abuse. However, you will likely be exposed to clients with mental health disorders in the assessment or treatment process. The competent substance abuse evaluator will be able to identify clients who present mental health disorders and make the appropriate referrals. Providing appropriate referrals for clients is common in the substance abuse field.

 In this assignment, you will develop a case history and include one mental disorder. The inclusion of a mental disorder in your case study will aid in the examination of co-occurring disorders. You will then present your diagnosis and referrals.

This assignment has two parts. Complete  parts 1.

Part I

Create a case history for a person with an addiction and a mental disorder. Do not include identifying information. Include the following elements in your case history:

• Demographics—including age, gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, marital status, number and ages of children, living arrangements, and religion if applicable
• Presenting problem
• Previous psychiatric treatment of patient
• Previous chemical treatment of patient
• Chemical history
• Medical history—including disabilities if applicable
• Work and education history
• Legal or financial concerns
• Family background
• Concerned person involvement
• Referral source