Non compliance in doing homework assignments between group therapy Dissertation

Non compliance in doing homework assignments between group therapy sessions for substance abuse and depression - Dissertation Example Ries et al. (2009, p.762) state that patients with substance abuse who comply with the group therapy sessions and complete their homework assignments experience positive treatment outcomes and thus are less likely to drop out of the treatment. They state that â€Å"integrated supportive group therapy in a randomized trial has shown a differential effect on treatment retention in subjects with severe mental disorders and substance use disorders†, and homework compliance is the adherence that comes as one positive outcome of group therapy sessions for such patients. Reinecke (2010, p.54) maintains the idea that clients with depression are less likely to adhere with the â€Å"in-session exposure† which makes them non-comply with homework completion. He states that the cause for this is that the in-session exposure of a depressive client or one suffering from anxiety involves others observing him doing homework, which he is already anxious about, thus enhancing his anxiety into social anxiety disorder. However, Reinecke affirms that homework compliance is an important bridge between the in-session activities and change of client’s attitude toward life, especially for patients with depression, anxiety and substance abuse. He suggests that the client’s behavior of homework non-compliance should be addressed very early in the therapy. Cruess et al. (2010) found that the patients reported that they non-comply with the between-session homework because of â€Å"lack of receptivity to details regarding their medical illness†. Lien et al. (2010) studied in their research the relationship between the substance abuse group therapy sessions and patient compliance. They found that what motivates the patients to comply with the completion of between-session homework is the clinical outcome which they want to see as their health benefits. According to them, â€Å"patients balance expected benefits and costs during a treatment episode when deci ding on compliance† and hence comply with the standards if they seem to be benefitting from the treatment since the Lien et al. observed that those patients who were progressing were less likely to not complete homework, not show at or drop out of the sessions. Similar conclusions have been approached by Guardiano, Weinstock and Miller (2011) who have found that patients of substance abuse are at high risk of non-compliance with homework completion or attendance at group therapy sessions due to which they have to suffer from negative consequences. They have proposed an adjunctive psychosocial intervention that will reduce noncompliance in substance abusers. According to them, â€Å"The intervention involves brief in-person sessions and follow-up phone contacts with the patient and a significant other/family member.† They state that this intervention will improve the effects of group therapy on substance abusers by helping enhance the relationship between them and the pr ovider thus motivating them to attend the group therapy sessions while adhering to the homework completion. Abramowitz et al. (2009, p.104) have suggested that patients can be motivated to comply with homework completion in group therapy sessions by encouraging â€Å"self-controlled exposure† so that patients are motivated â€Å"to perform more exposure exercises†. Mausbach et al. (2010) studied relationship between depressive clients’ homework compliance and group therapy outcomes and found

European Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

European Business - Essay Example The most important institutions of EU are the Council of the European Union, European Commission, and the Court of Justice of the European Union, European Council and the European Central bank. These institutions play a vital role in ensuring that the policies and matters affecting the EU member states are taken care of (Nelson et al. 2012 P.1-5). Apart from the growth of EU member states, the Union has also undergone a number of significant changes since its formation in 1957. The most important changes, which have been witnessed, are the Single European Act of February 1986 and the Maastricht Treaty of February 1992, which led to the establishment of the Euro. The objective of this paper is to explore the importance of the Single European Act of February 1986 and the Maastricht Treaty of February 1992 and their impacts on the UK economy and business. The Current Problems in the Eurozone and the Response of EU Institutions The Eurozone has faced a lot of challenges over the recent y ears. For instance, what begun as a debt crisis in Greece towards the end of 2009 has evolved as a big economic crisis in Eurozone, which has threatened the economic stability in Europe and the world at large. In fact, some economic analyst views the Eurozone as the biggest threat to the economy of the United States according to Nelson et al. (2012 p.1). At least four major problems related to economic challenges have been identified with the Eurozone. These include weakness in the European banking system, high levels of debts and public deficit in Eurozone nations, persistent trade imbalances within Eurozone and the economic recession as well as high rates of unemployment in Eurozone countries. High level of public debts in Eurozone countries (periphery) The problem of high level of debts in some Eurozone countries has raised a lot of concerns as to whether these countries will default on these debts. These concerns arose after high debt levels in some countries in Eurozone periphe ry increased immediately after joining the eurozone over the past decade followed by the global financial meltdown of 2008-2009, which further strained the public finance. As a result, the worst affected countries such as Ireland, Greece and Portugal had to be bailed out by the Eurozone governments and IMF in order to pay off these debts. However, even after the bailout, a country like Greece is still seeking for ‘haicuts’(losses on bonds held by private creditors. Portugal is also argued to be considering restructuring its debt. Italy and Spain are also grappling with the problems of debts, which have seen many investors becoming increasingly nervous (Nelson et al. 2012 p.2-4). Secondly, weakness in the Eurozone banking system is raising a lot of concerns about the levels of public debts. The ongoing concerns regarding the crisis have triggered capital flight from banks among some Eurozone nations, and some banks are now reported to be experiencing a lot of difficultie s to borrow in capital markets. Furthermore, analysts argue that European banks have insufficient capital to absorb losses on their holdings of autonomous bonds in case any of the Eurozone country defaults (Nelson et al. 2012 p.2-4). The third problem experienced by the Eurozone concerns lack of growth and high unemployment in Eurozone member states. For instance, A survey conducted by the IMF in January 2012 downgraded the