Matt comes to the attention of the counselor through the employee assistance program at the factory where he works. He was referred because of absenteeism and what his supervisor considered “mood swings.” Matt says that he is having a lot of stress at the plant. He has worked there for 12 years and believes he is good at his job. He says that his boss, who was transferred there from another location two years ago, is giving him a great deal of trouble. The two have had so many conflicts that Matt thinks his job is in jeopardy. Matt says that every morning the boss gets on his back about something. Matt wants to fight back, but he knows that he has to avoid trouble. Recently, he has been spending each morning seething. By the time the lunch break comes, he wants to explode. What he does instead is to go to a neighborhood bar with a group of coworkers who have been going to the same place for years. Lately, Matt has found that he is drinking more beer than usual at lunchtime. Twice the supervisor said he smelled beer on Matt’s breath in the afternoon. The second time, Matt was declared unfit for duty and sent to the medical office. Most of the time, Matt feels as stressed in the afternoon as he does in the morning. He says, “I can’t wait to get home, put my feet up, smoke a couple of joints, and drink enough beer so I can go to sleep and start the whole thing again the next morning.” Matt is interested in making some changes because both his job and his marriage are close to being over. He feels limited in what he can do, however, because of his belief that the supervisor is the problem.

Given Matt’s situation, beliefs, and challenges, how might each of the following behavioral interventions be useful and remember to support your position?

ASSESSMENT AND INTERVENTIONS DISCUSSION

Identify the challenges the client needs to work on to have any chance to improve his work or personal relationships.
Identify the interventions the group thinks would be helpful and why.
When might the interventions be applied and why at that phase of treatment?
Given Matt’s situation, how might each of the following behavioral interventions be useful and remember to support your position?
INTERVENTIONS

After Identifying the most important high-risk situations, which of the following coping strategies would you select and for which reasons?

Identifying high-risk situations and discovering better-coping strategies for dealing with them
Relaxation training
Contingency contracting
Assertiveness training
Of the five group work models that were discussed in chapter 6:

psychoeducational groups,
skills development groups,
cognitive-behavioral groups,
support groups, and
interpersonal process groups.
which ones do the group think they would be likely to use if each of you were employed as a group counselor in a substance abuse setting remember to support your answer with research and not just your opinion – justify your choices.

Textbook:

Lewis, J. A., Dana, R. Q., & Blevins, G. A. (2018). Substance abuse counseling. (6th ed.). Cengage Learning, Inc.