Sahira's Addiction: A Case Study

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Sahira’s drug use can be explained through the biopsychosocial model of addiction. First, she began to use drugs as a form of relief. She was suffering emotionally from the bullying that happen to her at school. For Sahira using drugs was self-medicating. This helped her cope with her anxiety. Unfortunately, her drug use led to many destructive consequences, which in turn harmed some of her relationships. The physiological tolerance and dependency drew Sahira further into her addiction (Capuzzi & Stauffer, 2016). As a counselor it is important to recognize all of Sahira’s life experiences. Understanding these experiences will allow me to know how Sahira came to be in this position. When talking with Sahira it is important not to take

away her suboxone, because using that drug is what has brought her to counseling. Suboxone is giving her the power to want to quit using the life threatening drugs. If you do not recognize suboxone as something that is helpful to her recovery she will not trust me as her counselor.
When developing her treatment plan I would want Sahira to play an active role in creating it, so that she is comfortable. I think it is important for Sahira to attend both impatient treatment that allows her to continue using suxboxone. I also think she should attend group therapy sessions, so she can have a sense of community incase she would feel she needs to go back to drug use. Additionally, teaching Sahira better coping skills is beneficial, because she has had many experiences in her life that may cause her to snuggle emotionally. If she had better coping skills hopefully she would use them instead of resorting back to drug use. I also think that it might be beneficial to create a daily work-out routine. Working out is a positive coping skill that can also lead to a more healthy life style. In addition to working out regularly, I would suggest that Sahira would begin to eat more nutritionally balanced meals. Sometimes with a combination of exercising and a balanced diet people feel better and are able to cope more emotionally. Having a variety of healthy alternative in Sahira’s treatment plan could lead her to have a better overall life style.