Prevalence of Substance Abuse or Dependence Diagnoses on an Inpatient Inner City Psychiatric Unit

The Development of a Substance Abuse Treatment Program for Forensic Patients With Cognitive Impairment

“…This issue was considered to be particularly applicable in a forensic setting such as the hospital, where the patients are involuntarily committed via the criminal courts and where participation in substance abuse treatment is often a mandatory condition of release from the hospital. A large body of empirical research indicates that regardless of the theoretical treatment approach used, the most appropriate and effective behavioral change interventions depend partially on the patient's current stage of readiness (Connors, Donovan, & DiClemente, 2001;Prochaska & DiClemente, 1982, 1984, 1992. Prochaska and DiClemente (1982, 1984, 1992 proposed that there are identifiable stages of readiness for change that exist along a continuum.…”

“…A large body of empirical research indicates that regardless of the theoretical treatment approach used, the most appropriate and effective behavioral change interventions depend partially on the patient's current stage of readiness (Connors, Donovan, & DiClemente, 2001;Prochaska & DiClemente, 1982, 1984, 1992. Prochaska and DiClemente (1982, 1984, 1992 proposed that there are identifiable stages of readiness for change that exist along a continuum. In the precontemplation stage, patients have no intent to change the problem behavior and generally feel that the behavior (e.g., substance use) has more positive aspects than negative aspects.…”

“…Counselors in forensic psychiatric treatment settings typically provide intensive substance abuse treatment to their patients and frequently need to do so as a condition of discharge to a less restrictive environment (Beck, 2002;Ogloff, 2004;Wheatley, 1998). Given the high comorbidity rates (from 15% to 70%) between substance abuse and severe psychiatric disorders (e.g., schizophrenia; Greenfield, Weiss, & Tohen, 1995;Lehman, Myers, Corty, & Thompson, 1994;Soni et al, 2005;Storch, 1992), substance abuse counseling has been demonstrated to be an important and effective intervention for this population (Brower, Blow, & Beresford, 1989;K. B. Carey, Purnine, Maisto, Carey, & Simons, 2000;Cimino, 2002;Kaufman, 1989;Leach, Hardy, & Dinwiddie, 1998;Levy, 2002;Levy & Mann, 1988;Mowbray et al, 1995).…”