Use the following five questions to guide discussions on special challenges associated with this population. Work into the discussions how colleagues, supervisors, mentors, a team of
professionals, and/or addiction medicine specialists may be helpful in addressing these challenging issues.
1. How would I handle the situation where doc-ton cut individuals off their pain medications once they have become addicted and do not provide further assistance?
2. How would I assist my clients, who attend self-help support groups, deal with group reactions to their use of pain medication and/or their snuggles with pain issues and how to address them in recovery?
3. How would I work with clients' significant others and/or family members who administer the pain medication so they do so with an educated approach and balanced involvement?
4. If I am working with a client without medical consultation, should I work to suppress the urge to advise clients to stop taking medication they may be abusing and if so, how will I do that? How soon and in what way would I seek medical consultation in working with this population?
5. How will I collaborate with other professionals on these complicated issues? With a team of professionals? With addiction medicine specialists?