ABSTRACT
Describe how to conduct a thorough Clinical Family Addictions Assessment Interview including each of the six phases Describe what drug detection testing is and the types of drug detection testing most relevant for the addicted family member presenting for family addictions counseling based on the time of last use Describe the Marital Satisfaction Inventory-Revised (MSI-R), the Substance Abuse Subtle Screening Inventory-3 (SASSI-3), and the Substance Abuse Subtle Screening Inventory-Adolescent 2 (SASSIA2), including the implications of high and low scores on each scale Understand how to provide eective therapeutic feedback
Introduction Can anyone truly separate assessment’s therapeutic impact from treatment itself? We don’t think so. As a matter of fact, we believe assessment and treatment are inseparably intertwined. For us, assessment is treatment. Concomitantly, like a single sentence within the context of a paragraph and page, assessment provides vital information about addictions within
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the context of the family’s experiences. In other words, the assessment process helps addicted families better understand addictive behaviors within the context of their family’s interactions and the impact addictions have on each member. For example, when working with one addicted family that had multiple generations a icted with addictions-related symptoms, the mother of an addicted adolescent exclaimed to the senior author, “I get it. So, getting drunk like my mother did is not a good way to cope with my son’s drinking.” us, a well-executed assessment not only commences the treatment process but also provides the foundation on which further treatment is performed and serves as a potent weapon in the family addiction counselors’ therapeutic arsenal.
