Mental Health and Substance Abuse

Agency Information
I am employed at Aspire-Touchstone Dual-Diagnosis Rehabilitation Center, which is located at 601 west 11th Avenue in Albany, GA. Touchstone is an in-patient care, short-term, residential treatment facility. One side of the facility is for crisis stabilization. For instance, when someone comes in, when a family member brings in a member of their family, or someone who has been referred for treatment, they are directed to go to the crisis unit for further evaluation and to detox and stabilize the person. The other side of the facility is for mental health and substance abuse treatment. This is when the person has been diagnosed with a mental illness and a substance problem and wants to further his treatment. The targeted population is men who are 18 years and older with a mental health and substance abuse problem. The agency is designed to help the client maintain a drug-free lifestyle, enhance the client level of functioning, and provide structure in a supportive environment.

When the person who is seeking treatment comes to the residential side, an intake is performed and other forms are signed, which include the release of information, consent for release, and visitation forms. During this time, staff explain the rules and regulations of the facility, and the patient signs the forms, which are scanned into the participant’s chart. The participant is given a handbook that explains the philosophy and treatment services of the Touchstone Dual Diagnosis Residential program. The handbook also gives a description of the different activities that are scheduled for each day of the week. There are morning community meetings, which each resident is expected to attend, where staff will re-emphasize the house rules and discuss questions. There are outside activities where the residents are not allowed to be outside of the building without staff present.

My duties and responsibilities include monitoring the residents and knowing where each resident is located at all times, checking the resident’s room to be sure the room is clean, dispense medications to clients and allow the clients to self-administer medications. I have to make sure the residents are in their assigned in-house meetings or groups throughout the day. I have to drive the van and take the residents to outside Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), and Narcotics Anonymous (NA) 12-step meetings five days a week. I must be willing to take the residents into the community and interact with the general population. I must conduct recreational skills, by taking the clients to the park for outside activities, as well as be able to handle the residents in time of a crisis. At the end of the day I must notate the client’s progress, lack of progress, and note any significant behavior changes, by documenting what happened throughout the day. The fac...

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