Theories of Drug Addiction

Think about the following scenario:
Jason had been a social drinker for many years, but in the last year has developed on addiction to alcohol. Jason works for an employer who is offering an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) to help employees who struggle with addiction. Jason is a single father who works two jobs to support his childern. He gets approximately 4 hours of sleep per night, does not open up and share his thoughts of feeling easily, and finds it difficult to ask for help from friends and family, although they would like to help him. In addition, Jason does not exercise or engage in other healthy stress management techniques; however, in the past he enjoyed recreation center. Jason remains very angry that the mother of his childern does not help more, but he does not share these thoughts and feeling with others. Jason perceived that increasing his drinking quieted his mind down at night so he could fall asleep, which lead to an increase in drinking. Also, he found that he worried less about his childern and had less negative thoughts about himself during the time he was drinking. futhermore, Jason has found that he needs to drink alcohol to decrease the physiological side effects of having alcohol in his system, such as trembling, sweating, anxiety, and feeling nauseous. When he drinks alcohol, these symptoms go away. You will be the in the role of the EAP counselor working with jason to help him overcome his addiction to alcohol.

If you were Jason’s EAP couselor what theories of addiction and motivaation do you think best provide an explanation for Json’s addiction?

Please explain the selection of your theories and tie your decision into specifics from Jason’s story and what you have learned about addiction and motivation.

What motivational interviewing interventions did you learn about in the Forman and Moyers (2019) and Resnicow and McMaster (2012) articles that could be applied to your work with Jason? Again, please tie your suggestions into the specifics of Jason’s history.

Finally, how do the various motivationsl interviewing strategies mentioned in the Forman and Moyers (2019) and Resnicow and McMaster (2012) articles relate to theories of Motivation and addiction you have learned so far this term?

References:
Deckers, L.(2018) Motivation: Biological, psychological, and environmental (5th ed.). New York, NY: Routledge
Chapter 4 (pp. 84-104)

Forman, D.P., & Moyers, T.B. (2019). With odds of single Session, Motivational interviewing is a good bet. Psychotherapy, 56, 62-66.

Resnicow, K., & McMaster, F. (2012). Motivational interviewing: Moving from why to how with autonomy support. International Joural of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 9.

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