Date of Award
5-2025
Document Type
Project
Degree Name
Master of Social Work
Department
School of Social Work
First Reader/Committee Chair
McAllister Carolyn, MSW, PhD
Abstract
This study investigates how social work practitioners in California view their approach to treating people with co-occurring disorders—disorders that involve both mental health and drug use problems. Eleven clinicians participated in in-depth Zoom interviews for the study, which reveals the main obstacles and variables affecting their treatment with patients who have co-occurring illnesses. The questions focused on the clinician's own experiences working with clients, including the challenges they face and common miscommunications or occurrences that have influenced their approach. Numerous challenges are shown by the research, such as complicated client needs, scarce resources, stigma, and a lack of family support. Client-related concerns, social worker difficulties, and structural and societal variables are the main themes that came out of this study. Adopting an integrated approach to therapy is crucial, and the study emphasizes the need for structural changes to better access to care, more social worker training, and more family participation. These results highlight how urgent it is to improve procedures and frameworks in order to better serve the needs of people who have co-occurring disorders. By relating the findings to more general theoretical frameworks and providing insightful information about the state of social work practice in this field, the study also lays the groundwork for future research and policy development.
Recommended Citation
Ramirez, Mirella and Calderon, Raelyn, "SOCIAL WORKERS PERCEPTION OF CO-OCCURING DISORDERS" (2025). Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations. 2113.
https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd/2113
