Mark’s drug use began in his adolescence. According to Mark, he did not have a strong family support system. His father left him and his mother, when he was about 3 years old, and he had no contact with his father since then. His mother, Barb, became the only breadwinner and had a very difficult time trying to keep a roof over their head. However, Mark was well liked in school and was an average student. Mark’s mother met Danny when Mark was 8 years old. Danny became his stepdad soon after they met. Couple of months after Danny moved in with them, Mark’s behaviour changed at school and he was emotional, distracted, easily frustrated. Mark attempted suicide at the age of 9, and following his suicide attempts he was hospitalized for two months in a psychiatric unit. At that time Mark alienated from her mother and close friends, and gravitated more to substance using peers. He was especially hurt by his mother’s reaction to his suicide attempts, which he felt conveyed frustration and anger, rather than compassion. Danny had a somewhat distanced relationship with Mark. Danny believed that Barb kept information from him because she thought he might lose his temper with Mark. Danny never lost his temper with Mark, but he got easily frustrated and verbally and physically aggressive with Barb. After Mark’s suicide attempt, Danny asked for help to stop his abusive behaviour. By that time, Barb and Danny struggled individually and as a parenting team to deal with Mark’s drug use and other problems. When they became upset with him and/or tried to set limits, he threatened to run away, and they backed down. Barb had generally not wanted to bring Danny into her problems with Mark, and Danny also admitted that he was okay to stay on the sidelines. At the age of 10 Mark smoked cigarettes and drank beer with his peers behind his school. Mark almost always drank until he was obviously drunk. He also experimented with many other drugs, including marijuana, cocaine, heroine, speed and downers. He expressed no motivation to stop using, and had no desire to be in treatment. Procuring drugs, using drugs, and describing the experience became the focus of his life. Failing school was no surprise. His moods were highly variable, and he was often unpleasant. Mark’s mother and stepdad knew he “occasionally” drunk too much, but they did not know (or did not want to know) about his drug use. His dismal performance seemed to be related to his missing most classes. He had for long months forbidden anyone from going into his room, after his mother found little packets of white powder (probably cocaine) in his sock drawer. He said he was keeping it for a friend and that he would return them immediately. Money was sometimes missing from the house, and once some computer equipment disappeared. Mark never admitted that he had anything to do with those situations. Mark was smoking tobacco and marijuana daily, drinking beer and getting drunk several times a week, and was using cocaine and other available drugs weekly. Mark’s relationship with his mother was tense. Barb felt like a failure as a mother and doubted herself so much that she could not make any parenting decisions. Barb had a history with addiction, and during those difficult times she returned to use alcohol to manage her anxiety and used it as a sleeping aid, too. Her use of alcohol also prevented her from properly supervising Mark. One day CAS was called by Mark’s teacher, and they started to assess his situation and that is how he was referred to your care. Mark was 12 years old at that time. Your learned from the referral that Danny, the stepdad, was working mostly away from the family (4 weeks away, 1 week he was at home) and his involvement in family life was sporadic. Mark was angry for having been forced by the school and CAS to undergo the assessment. Mark considered himself an adult, and he was angry and resentful. He resented his mother the most. He described his mother as a drunk, who say things and make promises, but she does not follow through. From Mark’s teacher, you learned that Mark was the oldest student in the class and that bothered him. He was embarrassed and angry about being in class with younger teens.

Instructions for your assignment You are asked to engage and assess Mark and his situation. In order to do so, you are asked to understand his substance use problem in his unique, individual context. (Please, consider using information of chapters #1, #16 and #22, however other chapters from the textbook might be also useful, and the relevant presentation slides from week #1 to #9) You are asked to integrate the BPS+ model and life span/developmental perspective (e.g., responsibilities that can be expected) when analyzing the complex situation, you read about. Use screening and assessment tools when you find them applicable, create interview questions (write examples), use the substance use continuum model (page 558-559 in your textbook), the 4-quadrant model (page 372-373) and the youth assessment domains (page 562-563 in your textbook). Highlight the strength/protective and risk factors, the possible concurrent disorder(s). Consider the potential usefulness of the two-screening approach, the impact of different health determinants, Stages of Change model, the level of family involvement, high index of suspicion for potential concurrent disorder(s) and Harm Reduction approach. Your major goal is to understand the unique need of Mark. Share your strategies to engage Mark in the assessment process that might be helpful for facilitating his engagement in the process of change during treatment. Consider the role of the family members when working with Mark, and that may include education, support, joint sessions, etc. You have a lot of information to work with this time, however, you have still some room to use your creative mindset to “describe scenarios” that are not given yet based on your question. This time, you are asked to come up with a conclusion about Mark’s assessment result and summarize the most important treatment directions you suggest based on your concluded outcomes. Please, give always reasoning/evidence to your points and remember to apply the topics and requested models in your written document. Remember, I can only mark and understand information that you write down in your assignment. You need to walk me through your thought process, reasoning and you need to tell me what your evidence for your conclusions is.

1300 words or so
Assignment is organized and all of the requirements are presented in a logical order.
Strong evidence to support the topic with many details included.
Meets or exceeds the formatting requirements of the assignment.
The relevant topics are listed, the requested models are used. The content demonstrates thorough understanding of the topic, with relevant examples

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