Key Learning Guide
Professional Practices
Rescue College
Course 415
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This Key Learning Guide is the study guide for Course 415: “Professional Practices.”
Use this guide to take your personal notes. Answer the questions pertaining to each
chapter and submit to your instructor as directed in the weekly sessions. The questions in
this document are used as the basis for most of the tests, quizzes and exams.
Use this Key Learning Guide as a study tool for your midterm and final exams.
Introduction to Professional Practice
Counseling is a comprehensive process that begins with a clinical evaluation,
which includes screening and assessment; then transitions to treatment planning and then
to referral. Each of those phases is an important component of the overall treatment
process. It is crucial that you conduct a thorough and accurate clinical evaluation in order
to set the stage for effective treatment planning, implementation of the treatment plan,
and in order for you to do “good counseling.” Service coordination that involves
implementing the treatment plan and consulting with other members of the treatment
team follows the clinical evaluation.
Clinical Evaluation is the systematic approach to screening and assessment. It is
vitally important to conduct a thorough and accurate Clinical Evaluation with each client
in order to identify, understand and describe the clients’ issues and determine an effective
course of treatment. Although multiple clients may present with similar treatment issues,
each client must be treated as a unique individual.
The initial component of the Clinical Evaluation is screening. Screening is “the
process through which counselor, client, and available significant others determine the
most appropriate initial course of action, given the client’s needs and characteristics”
(Florida Certification Board, 2004, p. 26). The screening process can set the tone for the
therapeutic relationship and serves as the basis for initial diagnostic impressions and
determination of client readiness.
The Assessment is the second component of the Clinical Evaluation. “An
Assessment is an ongoing process through which the counselor collaborates with the
client and others to gather and interpret information necessary for planning treatment and
evaluating client progress, and making substance abuse diagnoses” (Florida Certification
Board, 2004, p. 27). A counselor must select an assessment instrument that is
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comprehensive yet sensitive to age, gender, racial and ethnic cultural issues, and
disabilities and should include the following information:
History of alcohol and other drug use; physical health, mental health, and
addiction treatment history; family issues; work history and other issues; history
of criminality; psychological, emotional, and world-view concerns; current status
of physical health, mental health, and substance use; spirituality; education and
basic life skills; socio-economic characteristics, lifestyle, and current legal status;
and use of community resources. (Florida Certification Board, 2004, p. 27)
Treatment planning is the next step in the treatment process. Treatment planning
is “A collaborative process through which the counselor and client develop desired
treatment outcomes and identify the strategies for achieving them. At a minimum the
treatment plan addresses the identified substance use disorder(s), as well as issues related
to treatment progress, including relationships with family and significant others,
employment, education, spirituality, health concerns, and legal needs. (Florida
Certification Board, 2004, p. 27)
Counseling is the “meat” of the treatment process. Counseling is the process of
helping clients make necessary and desired changes in their lives that were identified
through the biopsychosocial assessment and made into goals and objectives in the
treatment planning stage. At first glance, counseling can look and sounds like an easygoing conversation between two people. You might see laughter, tears, anger, grief, and
astonishment as well as other feelings and emotions shared between the counselor and the
client. You might see a hug exchanged or a prayer spoken asking for strength, wisdom,
and guidance during a counseling session. You might also see long periods of silence or
a struggle for words as the client tries to express his or her thoughts and feelings about
the issue at hand.
Whatever the counseling session may look or sound like on the surface please
know that it is not an easy-going conversation between two people. Counseling takes
great effort on the part of the addictions professional and should not be taken lightly.
Counseling is active and not passive and takes a lot of practice and experience to master.
Counseling can be rewarding and frustrating and some days it can even be heartbreaking.
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But most of all counseling must be empathetic, genuine, sincere, and filled with
unconditional positive regard for each person who comes to you and places his or her
trust and confidence in you to help him or her live a better life.
Over this course, we are also going to look at Referral, Service Coordination,
Counseling, and Documentation as they apply to individual treatment. Referral will focus
on utilizing the available resources in your community that can help your client to
achieve and maintain full recovery. It is important to know that the client will benefit
from varied sources of support beyond the counseling you will provide.
We will also address Service Coordination, which consists of all the
“administrative, clinical, and evaluative activities that bring the client, treatment services,
community agencies, and other resources together to focus on issues and needs a fit in the
fight of the treatment plan. Service coordination also includes case management and
client advocacy” (Florida Certification Board, 2004, p. 29).
We will spend time focusing on counseling skills including techniques, skills, and
knowledge that are essential for effective counseling. Finally, we will address
documentation, which is extremely important in overall treatment. Documentation
encompasses “the recording of the screening and intake process, assessment, and
treatment plan, clinical reports, clinical progress notes, discharge summaries, and other
client related data” (Florida Certification Board, 2004, p. 34). Documentation is an
important responsibility that all treatment professionals must undertake to ensure
professionalism.
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