Tap 21 — TAPs <<<Documents<<<Home

Appendix B

Glossary of Terms

1. Addiction Counseling: professional and ethical application of basic tasks and responsibilities which include clinical evaluation; treatment planning; referral; service coordination; client, family, and community education; client, family, and group counseling; and documentation.

2. Addiction: the overpowering physical or emotional urge to continue alcohol/drug use in spite of adverse consequences; there is an increase in tolerance for the drug and withdrawal symptoms sometimes occur if the drug is discontinued; alcohol and drugs become the central focus of life.

3. Bio-medical: the application of the natural sciences, especially biological and physiological sciences, to clinical medicine.

4. Case Management: see "Service Coordination."

5. Client: individuals, significant others, or community agents who present for alcohol and drug abuse education, prevention, intervention, treatment, and consultation services.

6. Competency: the requisite knowledge, skills, and attitudes to perform tasks and responsibilities essential to addiction counseling.

7. Confidentiality: the body of Federal and State statutes that protect the privacy of individuals seeking alcohol and drug abuse treatment services.

8. Continuum of Care: the full array of alcohol and drug abuse services responsive to the unique needs of clients throughout the course of treatment and recovery.

9. Counseling: a process involving a therapeutic relationship between a client who is asking for help and a counselor or therapist trained to provide that help.

10. Countertransference: a counselor’s unresolved feelings for significant others that may be transferred to the client.

11. Cultural Diversity: an appreciation and recognition of the vast array of different cultural groups based on varying behaviors, attitudes, values, languages, celebrations, rituals, and histories; diversity as it relates to culture includes actions taken by individuals, organizations, and communities to reflect inclusion and representation of diverse groups.

12. Culture: the vast structure of behaviors, ideas, attitudes, values, habits, beliefs, customs, language, rituals, ceremonies, histories, and practices distinctive to a particular group of people.

13. Dimension: the eight essential areas of practice which addiction counselors must master to effectively provide treatment activities identified in "Addiction Counseling Competencies."

14. Disorder: an affliction that affects the functions of the mind and/or body, disturbing physical and/or mental health.

15. Dual Disorder: the condition of being both substance dependent and having a major Axis I psychiatric diagnosis as defined in the most recent edition of the "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders" (DSM).

16. Duty to Warn: the legal obligation of a counselor (healthcare provider) to notify the appropriate authorities as defined by statute and/or the potential victim when there is serious danger of a client inflicting injury on an identified individual.

17. Element: specific, definable areas found in three of the practice dimensions (Clinical Evaluation, Service Coordination, and Counseling).

18. Harmful Use: patterns of use of alcohol or other drugs for non-medical reasons that result in health consequences and some degree of impairment in social, psychological, and occupational functioning for the user.

19. Infectious: transmission of an illness or disease by direct or indirect contact.

20. Managed Care: an approach to delivering health and mental health services to clients that seeks to improve the cost effectiveness of care by monitoring access and utilization of medical services and supplies, and the outcomes of that care.

21. Multi-Disciplinary: a planned and coordinated program of care involving two or more health professions for the purpose of improving health care as a result of their joint contributions.

22. Outcome Monitoring: collection and analysis of data during and following alcohol and other drug treatment to determine the effects of treatment, especially in relation to improvements in client functioning.

23. Patient: see "Client."

24. Prevention: the theory and means for reducing the harmful effects of drug use in specific populations. Prevention objectives are to protect individuals prior to signs or symptoms of substance use problems; to identify persons in the early stages of substance abuse and intervene; and to end compulsive use of psychoactive substances through treatment.

25. Professionalism: a demonstration of knowledge, skills, and attitudes consistently applied when working with substance users, in addition to maintaining the code of ethics most commonly held by addictions professionals.

26. Psychoactive Substance: a pharmacological agent that can change mood, behavior, and cognition process.

27. Recovery: achieving and sustaining a state of health in which the individual no longer engages in problematic behavior or psychoactive substance use, and is able to establish and accomplish goals.

28. Regression: a defense mechanism in which an individual retreats to the use of primitive or less mature responses in attempting to cope with stress, fears, or pain.

29. Relapse: the return to the pattern of substance abuse as well as the process during which indicators appear prior to the client’s resumption of substance use.

30. Service Coordination: the process of prioritizing, managing, and facilitating implementation of activities in an individual’s treatment plan.

31. Significant Others: sexual partner, family member, or others on whom an individual is dependent for meeting all or part of his or her needs.

32. Sobriety: the quality or condition of abstinence from psychoactive substance abuse.

33. Special Populations: diverse groups of individuals having a unique culture, heritage, and background.

34. Spirituality: a belief system that acknowledges and appreciates the influence in one’s life of a higher power or state of being.

35. Substance Abuse: a maladaptive pattern of substance use leading to clinically significant impairment or distress such as failure to fulfill major role responsibilities, use in spite of physical hazards, legal problems, or interpersonal and social problems. (Also refer to the most recent edition of the "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders")

36. Substance Dependence: the need for alcohol or other drugs that results from the use of that substance. This need includes both mental and physical changes which makes it difficult for the user to control when they will use the substance and how much they will use. Psychological dependence occurs when the user needs the substance to feel good, normal, or to function. Physical dependence occurs when the body adapts to the substance and needs increasing amounts to achieve the same effect or to function. (Also refer to the most recent edition of the "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders")

37. Substance Use: consumption of low and/or infrequent doses of alcohol and other drugs, sometimes called "experimental," "casual," or "social" use, such that damaging consequences may be rare or minor.

38. Supervision/Clinical Supervision: the administrative, clinical, and evaluative process of monitoring, assessing, and enhancing counselor performance.

39. Transdisciplinary: knowledge, skills, and attitudes across academic disciplines related to substance abuse.

40. Transference: a client’s unresolved feeling for significant others that may be transferred to the counselor.

Last Updated 11-7-02