NAADAC

Annual Conference October 10, 2015 Washington, DC

The MEPS Mobile, a Paradigm for Recovery

Mark A. Loftis, PhD, LPC-MHSP, SPE-HSP, LADAC Assistant Professor

CMHC Program Coordinator Tennessee Technological

University Cookeville, TN

mloftis@tntech.edu

Confessions of an integrationists…

Psychology

Counseling

Academia

Personal and Professional Identity

Being a congruent person is a rewarding, but an exhausting thing to be.

Why do so many people attempting recovery terminate or fail at treatment?

Perhaps we don’t speak their language.

Sally is a 26 year old female. She has struggled with meth addiction for three years. This admission to rehab is her fourth attempt. She left two programs AMA and completed two programs. She has managed about six weeks of clean time before her most recent relapse. She appears ambivalent about treatment, but her legal issues have forced her to seek treatment to avoid incarceration. You have been assigned to be her primary therapist. Where do you start?

Where do you start? How does Sally manage her life?

What is her natural or preferred domain of life?

Do I speak her language?

Physical Emotional

Mental

Spiritual

The MEPS Mobile

Nothing in the MEPS model is new. The “newness” lies in the paradigm as a

dynamic model that can be very individualistic and useful in the helping

relationship.

Addiction is a primary, chronic disease of brain

reward, motivation, memory and related circuitry. Dysfunction in these circuits leads to characteristic biological, psychological, social

and spiritual manifestations. This is reflected in an individual pathologically pursuing reward

and/or relief by substance use and other behaviors. (ASAM)

Addiction is characterized by:

• Inability to consistently Abstain; • Impairment in Behavioral control; • Craving; or increased “hunger” for drugs or rewarding

experiences; • Diminished recognition of significant problems with one’s

behaviors and interpersonal relationships; and • A dysfunctional Emotional response. (ASAM)

Basic Laws of Physics

• 1. Objects at rest, stay at rest (inertia) until operated upon by an outside force.

• 2. Objects in motion, stay in motion until operated on by an outside force.

• 3. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

Physical Emotional

Mental

Spiritual

The MEPS Mobile The goal of a mobile is homeostasis - balance

Goals of Treatment

• 1. Help client identify which is their dominant domain.

• 2. Engage the client in recovery by exploring their dominant domain.

• 3. Help client address ways to enhance the less preferred domain.

U.S. Army Comprehensive Soldier and Family Fitness

CSF2 (2008)

Assessing military personnel on physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual fitness.

Spiritual – “what one holds sacred.”

If the military can assess these domains, why can’t a counselor?

The MEPS Scale

Development of the MEPS Scale: A Tool for Counselors

and Helping Professionals (TTU, Spring 2014)

The MEPS Scale

28 Item, 5-Point Likert Scale instrument with four subscales and seven factor scales.

Physical Emotional

Mental

Spiritual

The MEPS Model Scale A standardized assessment that measures the four domains of life.

Physical Emotional

Mental

Spiritual

The MEPS Model Scale A which is your preferred or default domain?.

Research Design

This study used a correlational, quantitative, non-experimental design to examine mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual domains in college students.

Series of multiple regression models and independent samples t-test.

Participants were asked to complete a web-based, self-report survey on Survey Monkey.

Population and Sampling

Students were recruited from TTU General Psychology Courses (n = 226).

Demographics Females: 46.5 % Freshmen: 55.3 % Sophomores: 29.4% Juniors: 8.3% Seniors: 5.3% Other: 1.8% Mean age: 19.92 (n = 226, SD = 2.395)

Demographics

White or Caucasian: n = 171 (75%)

Black or African American: n = 9 (3.9%)

Middle Eastern: n = 30 (13.2%)

Asian: n = 4 (1.8%)

Hispanic or Latino: n = 12 (1.3%)

American Indian and Alaska Native: n = 7 (1.3%)

Pacific Islander: n = 1 (.2%)

Scale Reliability (Cronbach’s Alpha)

Scale Current Study

Mental .65

Emotional .70

Physical .90

Spiritual .89

Total .86

The MEPS Survey

While promising, it is very early in the

development. Early indication that reliability surpasses acceptable standards.

The MEPS Survey

Future Directions • Continue scale development • Examine relationship between treatment

modality and domains (e.g. CBT for mental, EFT, emotional, Experiential for physical, faith based for spiritual, etc.)

Physical Emotional

Mental

Spiritual

The MEPS Mobile A tool for counselor self-care

MEPS Mobile, a Paradigm for Recovery

Questions? Comments?

Acknowledgments

Dr. Tony Michael Derrick Edwards

Colleagues at TTU Students Clients