Primary Discussion Response is due by Wednesday (11:59:59pm Central), Peer Responses are due by Sunday (11:59:59pm Central).

At the community mental health center you are assigned to counsel an adult client who has Bipolar Disorder. He is a 48-year-old who also has addiction issues. He is starting to decompensate and beginning to go into a manic phase of his illness. He sleeps less than 2-3 hours per night, engages in risky sexual behaviors, and decreased self-care. He states that he is starting to have auditory hallucinations consistent with Bipolar Disorder with Psychotic Features. He also reports that he has started using drugs again to calm himself down because he couldn’t afford the psychotropic medication due to losing his job and insurance 3 months ago. He further tells you that years ago he managed his symptoms the best when he was in group therapy but could not remember the type of group he was in.

After referring this client to the psychiatrist for an urgent medication Assessment due to decompensation, bring this case to the next staff meeting to discuss with the team, explaining your initial counseling plan, initial concerns, and back up plans for this patient. Include a 1-3 sentence response to all of the following:

• 1-2 initial concerns for this patient
• 1 initial goal and objective to plan for this patient
• 1 goal and objective as a back-up plan for this patient
• Include 1-3 sentence responses to all of the following:

Which 1 of the following group therapies would you start with to Help this client most effectively?

• Dual Diagnosis Group
• Psycho-educational Groups
• Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)
  • Give 1-2 reasons why you would utilize your chosen group.
  • Provide a description of at least 2 benefits and 1 drawback that therapy provides

Respond to two of your classmates, at a minimum. 
When responding to other postings pick a different position than the person you are engaging in the discussion in order to further the discussion.

Respond to classmates posts as if you were in a team meeting discussing this case.
Think of 2 positive statement you could make regarding the case and 2 challenging statements you might make to brainstorm this case.

• Example: You might say, “I can see why you would choose this……. It has its value which is……..but I think this ……might also be a valuable strategy with this client…..because of……….”
• Feel free to challenge them using the worst case scenario.