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Client Overview
Client Overview
This paper describes the client who is receiving services at Center to Rise Wellness Spa Studio in Arlington, Texas, and his struggles with generalized anxiety disorder and alcohol dependency. They are treated with dual diagnosis within the Mental Health and Substance Misuse specialization, and the overview sets the context for this treatment.
Practice Setting
The client practice setting is Center to Rise Wellness Spa Studio, Arlington, Texas. The specialty of this therapy clinic is mental health and substance misuse interventions with individual therapy, group support, and holistic wellness services like mindfulness and stress management. The agency’s multidisciplinary team provides a recovery-supportive environment, especially for individuals with co-occurring disorders, by using evidence-based practices to treat complex needs (Center to Rise Wellness Spa Studio, 2023). It focuses on dual-diagnosis treatment, which meets the client’s needs in a community-based setting.
Practice Situation
This is a client who is a 35-year-old person who has generalized anxiety disorder and alcohol dependency, which hinder the client’s employment and social relationships. Their anxiety is persistent, uncontrollable worry that interferes with daily functioning and causes emotional distress. Alcohol use is used as a maladaptive coping mechanism, which worsens social isolation and occupational instability and thus perpetuates the cycle of dependency (SAMHSA, 2024). This dual diagnosis is a complicated practice situation that requires integrated therapeutic interventions to deal with both problems simultaneously. The client’s challenges point to the interplay between mental health and substance misuse and the need for tailored, evidence-based strategies for recovery and enhancing quality of life.
Connection to Specialization
The mental health and substance misuse specialization directly relates to the client’s co-occurring disorders. But their challenges illustrate the importance of integrated care models that address mental health and substance use at the same time. Dual-diagnosis treatment, as SAMHSA (2024) states, can be effective only when it is comprehensive and includes therapy, motivational strategies, and relapse prevention. The specialization’s concentration on handling intricate situations involving the combination of anxiety and alcohol dependency, as found in the client’s situation, emphasizes the need for evidence-based approaches, for example, motivational interviewing and cognitive behavioral therapy (Lee & Sherman, 2024). Specialized knowledge of the client and the care system can be used in this case to create client-centered interventions, advocate for equitable care, and work to dismantle systemic barriers to recovery.
Social and Contextual Factors
The client’s low socioeconomic status and limited access to resources in Arlington only exacerbate their challenges, which are symptomatic of broader systemic issues in the access to mental health care. Ware (2025) notes that rural and underserved communities often have barriers to integrated treatment, which in turn reduces the client’s ability to consistently engage in care. Other cultural factors, such as stigma associated with mental health and substance use issues, complicate help-seeking behaviors. Culturally adapted engagement strategies are used by social workers in order to build trust and make sure that interventions are resonating with the client’s background (Lee & Sherman, 2024). These factors indicate the need for treatment planning that addresses social determinants of health.
Reason for Intervention Need
This client is in need of intervention due to the prevalence of co-occurring disorders. According to SAMHSA (2024), an estimated 9.2 million U.S. adults suffer from both mental health and substance use disorders each year, highlighting the public health importance of dual-diagnosis treatment. The client is impaired and using alcohol to cope with this impairment, which indicates the need for immediate intervention to avoid further deterioration. Through the Mental Health and Substance Misuse specialization, the social worker will be able to help the client to work towards recovery while utilizing evidence-based practices in order to provide sustainable results.
References
Center to Rise Wellness Spa Studio. (2023). About us. Retrieved from
Lee, C. S., & Sherman, D. K. (2024). Integration of motivational interviewing and self-affirmation theory into a culturally adapted motivational interview: A case study.
Clinical Case Studies, 23(3), 212-229.
NASW. (2021). Code of ethics of the National Association of Social Workers. Retrieved from
SAMHSA. (2024). Key substance use and mental health indicators in the United States: Results from the 2023 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Retrieved from
Ware, A. M. (2025). Medical social workers’ self-efficacy and perceptions of interdisciplinary collaboration managing patients with co-occurring chronic pain and opioid use disorder (Doctoral dissertation, Walden University).
