Unstructured Assessment Essay

The difference between abuse of a substance and dependence, is that abuse is when one indulges over such as weekend benders, parting too hard, etc., but still maintains some sort of control over what they do. Dependence however is when an individual no longer has the ability to control their addiction, and their actions lead to more and more serious consequences. The drug of choice then controls the individual.
Assessments are the gathering tools and process by which one, preferably a clinician, can determine an individual’s current situation of need, along with their bio-psych-social history can create a treatment plan can be created and based on. Unstructured assessments allows a client to speak freely and share what they think is important about themselves as they attempt to establish a rapport with the intake assessor. Questions are asked to get the client to elaborate on the major points such as drug of choice, usage, prior treatments if any and some family issues Time for unstructured assessments is generally contingent upon scheduling of admission, admission staff as well as space availability. A key note in the text book, by Capuzzi & Stauffer (2012), “ One is also able to examine complicated
The text book states that recent survey data indicates that the SASSI-3 is the most important and most frequently used screen (Capuzzi, & Stauffer, 2012). While it might be a preferred assessment measure, I feel it important to note how flexible the SASSI is, in terms of how it is adjustable to different ages, and uses. For example, there is one version for adults it would be the SASSI-3 and a separate version for adolescents which would be the SASSI-A2 It can be modified to fit groupsfor inpatient and outpatient settings, criminal justice individuals, it can be helpful in employee assistance, educational, mental health, as well as medical