title: The importance of consultation in the treatment of chemical dependency.
abstract: The objective of this article is to heighten awareness of the need for increased collaboration between treating clinicians and the chemical-dependency population. For this increased collaboration to occur, changes are required in treatment practices, including eradicating prescriptive medications that are contraindicated by the chemical dependency diagnosis. Case studies and professional literature suggest that such an increase would lead to more successful treatment outcomes for the chemical-dependency population as a whole. In addition, treatment parameters are discussed for the condition of pain coupled to the condition of substance abuse. Some of the recommendations proposed include increased collaboration between medical/mental health providers and substance-abuse treatment providers as a norm, valid screening for patients' comorbid mental illness and substance use in clinical settings, improved practices in prescribing medications that are contraindicated in the treatment of the chemical-dependency population, and evidence-based boundaries delineation for safe prescribing practice.
authors.affiliation: Affiliated Counselling Center, Fridley, Minnesota 55432, USA. skkaiser@msn.com
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kaiser
mesh_terms: D001364:Awareness; D006801:Humans; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology