...to Treating Cocaine Addiction Melacia Cullars, Tommy Foster, Taylor Hagin, Mark Sturgess Psychology 335 February 16, 2015 Professor Jennifer Slothower Best Approach to Treating Cocaine Addiction Currently the research that Rawson et al. (2002) notes that methadone treatment is deemed the best treatment for cocaine addiction. Methadone is a synthetic agent that occupies the receptors that have been occupied by cocaine in the brain to relieve euphoria, intoxication and withdrawal symptoms. The real issues arise from the length of methadone treatment. Even though researches show that, no ill effects arise from continual use. However, the Center for Disease Control (2002) shows that most patients under methadone abandon the treatment before a year is complete; the clinic sometimes encourages the patients to leave or the patients fail to comply with the program. Amore obvious reason is that taking methadone becomes difficult and unpleasant for most patients. In effect, most methadone patients relapse and start using cocaine again. In this light, the question of which treatment approach is best for treating cocaine addicts still remain. Considerably, other drug addiction treatments, such as CBT- cognitive-behavioral therapy and CM –contingency management show promise in helping patient dissuade from taking drug, even after the initial drug treatment is stopped. In this light, hypothesis for creating an effective cocaine treatment is draw from the use of CBT and CM after the initial...
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...What causes addiction, and what is the best approach to counteract it? One contemporary view on the main causes of addiction is positive reinforcement. While there are many factors that contribute to both chemical and physical addiction, including psychosis, a disruptive childhood, or cognitive impairment, positive reinforcement is the major underlying characteristic that envelops an individual’s substance addiction (Osher, 1989). Though the reasons for compulsive drug self-administration varies widely, most, if not all users of drugs do so to avoid negative feelings including anxiety, depression, angst and fear (Goldsmith, Holzer & Manderscheid, 1998). Positive reinforcement is a concept first described by psychologist B. F. Skinner in his theory of operant conditioning. Skinner introduced reinforcement to the law of effect (Thorndike, 1905) in psychology, stating that behaviour that is reinforced is likely to be repeated and strengthened, while behaviour that is not reinforced will likely be extinguished (McLeod, 2007). Positive reinforcement refers to the rewarding and confident emotions that drug users experience when self-administering drugs or other substances. This theory highlights that the common denominator of a wide range of addictive substances is their ability to cause psychomotor activation (Wise & Bozarth, 1987). This view is related to the belief that all positive reinforcers activate a common biological mechanism, with one of the most common components...
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...Application of Clinical Psychology: Betty Ford Courtney Bowers, Tina Colbert, Janell Thomas, Mervin Waldron PSY/480 March 30, 2015 Tara Thompson Application of Clinical Psychology: Betty Ford Substance abuse can stem from a variety of biological, psychological, and social factors. These factors may vary from addict to addict, and it is the role of clinical psychology to examine the roots of addiction, and what type of treatment, such as interventions, would apply to and possibly work best for each individual. Interventions have to be rational as they apply to a patient, and the clinical psychology professional would have to have a plan as to who is involved, where will it be, what should happen, and what specific areas the intervention will focus on. We will examine the case study of Betty Ford, and uncover the possible reason for addiction as well as what type of interventions may work best and why. The Case of Betty Ford Many have heard of the Betty Ford Clinic, but most think Betty Ford, former first lady opened the clinic up because she wanted to help substance abuse addicts. In fact, that is precisely what she wished to accomplish, but for reasons other than just helping. Betty Ford was an addict herself. In 1978, Ford admitted that she was an addict, and a week later went into a treatment program. Inspired by the ability to overcome drugs and alcohol through treatment, in 1982, the Betty Ford Clinic was opened. Substance abuse doesn't lend itself to...
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...During my career as a practitioner in the substance abuse area of behavioral health, where Cognitive Behavior Therapy is the primary approach to treatment. It is imperative for the practitioner to comprehend and institute the concepts regarding to CBT approach to addictions treatment. When I was first provided and granted with the opportunity to facilitating groups, Existential Therapy applications was the primary approach that was being applied, where I truly wasn’t prepared to facilitate groups base on my lack of acknowledged with applying the applications of any theory. It was only after given the prospects of developing addictions’ program for inpatient adolescents unit, I strongly suggested to the director that it was imperative for...
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...Unit 29: Assignment Explain the contribution of complementary psychological theories to the understanding of two specific behaviours Case study -Addiction Ben is a 22 year old and works as a photographer. He drinks a lot and goes to parties every single weekend with his friends. Ben has also started using heroin and became addicted to it while trying it out because of his friends. He grew up with his mum and had tough childhood as his mum is a single mum and also was addicted to alcohol. He grew up being exposed to alcohol ever since he was a child and he thinks that drinking alcohol excessively is normal. However, Ben got to the point that he no longer can live without alcohol and heroin and it started to affect his job and his daily life. Case study - Depression Hannah is a 16 years old girl and she has just managed to finish her high school and is hoping to get into college. She has been experiencing symptoms of depression ever since the age of 13. It has affected her daily life and it had interfered with her studies as she found it hard to go to school and she isolated herself a lot. Hannah didn't like herself and she constantly worried about her future and the world. She had low self-esteem and felt that she was worthless all the time and that feeling did not go away for months. Her family didn't know that it was depression until she was properly diagnosed by a psychiatrist. She now takes medication and it helps a lot with her negative and suicidal thoughts...
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...and the concerns we have with our clients as it relates to their disease of addiction. We need to know what changes in intellectual abilities, mental activities, and behaviors through which knowledge of the world is attained. This requires an understanding of us as counselors, to know what the variety of factors are including, biological, social, environmental, experiential, and motivational as well as the emotional life of each of our clients’. When we know this information, we are best able to examination their needs and understand the ways in which their cognitive and moral development have hindered their lives. As a result, we are then able to treat the problem and get into the solution. At Stella, we do this by treating our clients in a number of different ways. According to Piaget, he believed the environmental factors played a large role in the psychological development, in general, and cognitive development. As a counselor, we see this everyday with our clients’. They come into treatment with different environmental factors that play a major role in their addictions. As a result, we see that in their behaviors and attitudes. Piaget’s work identifies important elements that in today’s society is still viewed upon as relevant and well respected. Because I believe it to be relevant to this chapter as it relates to Cognitive Development, below, I will introduce how Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) is used at Stella Maris as one form of a therapy intervention for our clients...
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...population/group of people I am intending to work with is those with substance abuse/addiction issues. According to the National Association of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapist, “As a research-based treatment modality, CBT is an effective treatment for substance abuse, eating disorders, and specific mental health diagnoses. An active therapeutic modality, CBT is present-oriented, problem-focused, and goal-directed” (Therapist, 2015). The use of CBT help engage people in drug abuse treatment, provide incentives for them to remain abstinent, modify their attitudes and behaviors related to drug abuse, and increase their life skills to handle stressful circumstances and environmental cues that may trigger intense craving for drugs and could lead to relapse. Cognitive-behavioral strategies based on the theory that in the development of maladaptive behavioral patterns like substance abuse, learning processes play a critical role. Individuals in CBT learn to identify and correct problematic behaviors by applying a range of different skills that used to stop drug abuse and to address a range of other problems that often co-occur with it. That is why I am leaning more towards the use of CBT with my future...
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...has issues with drug use. Lower Columbia Mental Health mainly focuses on cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) for the treatment of drug use and to prevent relapse. After extensive research of the population the facility found that this is the most productive and effective form of treatment. Wayne Floor of Lower Columbia Mental Health stated that after years of being a first responder he knew that there needed to be more for people with addictions. He joined a team of individuals who also had similar views of what types of treatments were needed for the epidemic that they were all witnessing. Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy was developed as a method to prevent relapse when treating problem drinking and later it was adapted for cocaine-addicted individuals (National Institute on Drug Abuse, n.d.).Cowlitz County is known for the problems with drugs such as methamphetamines and heroin. “The problem that we see, is that there are no “real” treatments only court enforced treatments for the people of this area” says Wayne. The therapists of Lower Columbia Mental Health all agreed that the best course of action is for therapy to consist of CBT. The central element of CBT is anticipating likely problems and enhancing patients’ self-control by helping them develop effective coping strategies (National Institute on Drug Abuse, n.d.). All of the therapist within the organization practice CBT and cognitive interventions. The main goal of drug interventions is to reduce the level of drug...
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...Computer Game Addiction Stats and Research * Personality traits like trait anxiety, sensation seeking, neuroticism, and aggression appear to be related to the development of gaming addiction. Mehroof, M et al. (2010). Online gaming addiction: The role of sensation seeking, self-control, neuroticism, aggression, state anxiety, and trait anxiety. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 13, 313-316. * Regions of the brain associated with cravings in substance abuse also appear to be activated in gaming addicts when they view images of video games. Ko, C. et al. (2009). Brain activities associated with gaming urge of online gaming addiction. Journal or Psychiatric Research, 43, 739-747. * There is a difference between "excessive gaming" and "addictive gaming". Two gamers may play for an identical number of hours each day, but their psychological motivation and the meaning that gaming has within their lives can be very different. Gaming addiction should be defined by how much the game negatively impacts others areas of life, not by how much time is spent playing. Griffiths, M et al. (2010). The role of context in online gaming excess and addiction: Some case study evidence. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 8, 119-125. * In a volunteer sample, 41% of online gamers acknowledged that they use gaming as an escape. In the same sample, 7% were viewed as "dependent". These gamers possessed several behavioral attributes that...
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...Introduction Helping others is one of the most important aspects in life today. There are many different ways, and different forms of helping people. Helping others could make another person feel better either inside, or about them self. ‘Helping’ is one of those taken for granted words. It is a familiar part of our vocabulary. Traditionally, for example, social workers, youth workers and support workers, guidance counsellors and psychologist have been talked about as members of the helping professions. The question, do you need some help? Should be part of our daily business as informal and formal educators and guidance counsellors. Yet what we mean by ‘helping’ is not that obvious and the qualities we look for in ‘helping relationships’ need some thinking about. Here we try to clear away some of the confusion. What do we mean by helping? For many people within the social professions, such as social work, counsellors, community workers and psychologist. The notion of helping is tied up with counselling and guidance. Many students such as myself major in psychology and or guidance and counselling because I am fascinated by people. I want to learn more about why people behave as they do and are motivated to help people improve their lives. However, there are key ingredients of a helping relationship in helping anyone includes acceptance, this is the act of relating to another person without judging him or her. Respect which is also an attitude of giving dignity to each individual...
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...variety of solutions to the problem. With the advancement in technology and the web ever changing, ever increasing information cyber data bank, one can now do just about anything online. One of those online items is Therapy. Yes, it is possible to find an online therapist that will assist with any issues that are going on in your life. Getting the help needed with mental well being is only a click away. The following information will give incite to three such cites in the online therapy family. The three are the CBT website, E-Therapy and Internet Therapy. Brief descriptions of each cite will be given along with how regulations and guidelines govern online therapy sessions. Also an opinion of the advantages and disadvantages of online therapy will be provided. CBT Website Online psychotherapy without having to travel is what CBT website gives you. On the website you...
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...electromagnetism by Hans Christian Oersted’s Discovery, and the time when the United States of America of Allied power won against Japan of Axis power during World War II due to Einstein’s Discovery of atomic bomb which landed the city of Nagasaki and Hiroshima in Japan. The presence of technology is really advantageous but the continues dependence of people on this should be prohibited. Dependence on technology is not only prohibited in bigger sectors of society but also in smaller units. The smaller units refer to the youth today whose potentials are the products of globalization. We believe that youth can save the wrong steps of ancient civilizations including today’s generation separated from the future, but their addictions in multimedia devices can break the old tradition. Based from the National Survey of United States of America in the year 2012, the total youth population has dependence in playing computer online games like DOTA Garena, Minecraft, Crossfire International, Special Force, Grand Chase, and CABAL online which were included in the Top Ten Most Played Games of 2012. On the other hand, China that has the most number of internet users all...
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...This increases nicotine dependence, but addiction is strengthened further for those with negative symptoms of Schizophrenia (Pachas et al., 2012). In a study of over 50,000 men, those who smoked cigarettes daily from ages 18-20 were shown to have less chance of developing Schizophrenia later in life. This showed that nicotine has a biological effect on the brain that possibly alters the symptoms of this illness, increasing dependence (Zammit et al., 2003). These findings reveal an effect that nicotine seems to have with negative symptoms of schizophrenia. These negative symptoms can be described as negative affect, a slowing of the brain’s dopamine release causing a weakening of the brain’s reward system. Nicotine increases the release of dopamine in the brain, activating a feeling of...
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...Cognitive Behavioral Therapy There are a number of methods to psychotherapy that fit within the field of cognitive behavior therapy (CBT). These methods share three theoretical perspectives: thinking or cognition affects behavior; cognitive behavior may be monitored and altered; and desired behavior change can take place through cognitive change (Piotrowski). Albert Ellis and Aaron Beck were instrumental in developing CBT. Albert Ellis established rational-emotive therapy (RET) in the 1950s; and Aaron Beck’s cognitive therapy is used universally for depression and anxiety (Strickland). Unlike Freudian psychoanalysis which emphasizes past history, CBT focuses on the client’s present situation. The CBT process begins with establishment of false perceptions and thought patterns that are the foundation of or contributing to the client’s issues. “Some self-defeating ways of thinking identified by Aaron Beck include all-or-nothing thinking, magnifying or minimizing the importance of an event; overgeneralization (drawing extensive conclusions from a single event); personalization (taking things too personally); selective abstraction (giving disproportionate weight to negative events); arbitrary inference (drawing illogical conclusions from an event); and automatic thoughts (habitual negative, scolding thoughts, such as “You can’t do anything right”).” (Strickland). Following establishing false perceptions, the therapist assists the client in changing those negative perceptions...
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...What Is Binge Eating? Binge eating, also called compulsive overeating, affects approximately 5% of Americans at some point in their lives.2 Prospective research estimates that approximately 2% of men and 3.5% of women will be diagnosed with BED in their lifetimes.3 While experts debate on the exact parameters of a binge, the term generally refers to a discrete period of time during which an individual overeats to the point of being uncomfortably full without hunger or a metabolic need driving eating behavior.2 Accompanying the excessive caloric consumption that occurs during a binge are feelings of loss of control and psychological distress, such as guilt, disgust, embarrassment, or depression.2,4 Binge eating triggers reported in the literature include exposure to physical or psychological stressors, food deprivation or restriction (eg, dieting), patterns of emotional eating, and the restriction or abstinence from, and then reintroduction of, highly palatable foods.2 Unsurprisingly, individuals who binge most often do so on high-fat, high-carbohydrate foods.2 The clinical manifestation of frequent binge-eating behavior results in a diagnosis of BED. While not formally defined as a psychiatric disorder like anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa, BED is included as a provisional diagnosis in the current edition of the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) under “eating disorders not otherwise specified” (EDNOS)...
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