Leslie Nelson - Licensed Clinical Social Worker
Dual Diagnosis Evaluations and Treatment Recommendations
“The secret to change is to focus all of your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new.” Socrates
Dual Diagnosis, also known as Co-Occurring Disorders, is simply the clinical language for saying “let’s see if there’s more than one thing going on here.” If someone is asking you to participate in a dual diagnosis evaluation, they want to make sure that both perspectives are covered: the possible need for mental health treatment and/or the possible need for drug and alcohol treatment.
Dual Diagnosis treatment is one of the most specialized and complex areas of addiction medicine and requires experts in both fields to be successful. According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH, 2021) 45% of people in the US struggle with a Dual Diagnosis. An example may be an Alcohol Diagnosis and a Depression Diagnosis. Sometimes, more complex cases arise, such as Stimulant Induced Psychosis or PTSD—a Dual Diagnosis Evaluator is trained to elicit the most likely diagnosis and best practice treatment recommendation.
Dual Diagnosis evaluations by Leslie Nelson include specialized components:
The Cultural Anthropology lens—What values, norms, morals, ethics, customs, economics, kinship system, family system, and other situations did the person experience during their formative years? Are the cultural norms in sync or at odds with the current cultural environment and how does that impact the person’s resources and connections at work and home and in the community?
The Social Work Concept P.I.E: Person In the Environment—What is the current situation regarding work and home and the community? If the person is currently disenfranchised what could be planned to create and/or return to a thriving or more robust living situation?
ASAM: The American Society of Addiction Medicine tool, the Patient Placement Criteria, is utilized to determine levels of care such as outpatient or inpatient treatment when treatment is recommended.