| Course | ADC 660 Addiction and Families |
|---|---|
| Module | Module 8 |
| Paper type | Tiered treatment plan |
| Length | About 1,068 words, 6 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Aspen University |
| Program | Psychology and Addiction Studies |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for ADC 660 Module 8
Matching Help to Need: A Tiered Treatment Plan for the Hartley Family
Student Name
Psychology and Addiction Studies Program, Aspen University
ADC 660: Addiction and Families
Instructor Name
Month Day, Year
Matching Help to Need: A Tiered Treatment Plan for the Hartley Family
Over the past seven modules, the Hartley family of Omaha has appeared in pieces: Lisa seeking help with her husband's drinking, Emma's stomachaches, Tyler's slide from drinking into daily cannabis use, Glen's entry into treatment and couple therapy and Carol's worry and her loans. All of them are composites. This final paper writes one plan for all five of them, placing each at a tier of help and setting points at which the plan will be reviewed.
Principles
Sobell and Sobell (2000) set out the stepped care principle: offer the least intensive treatment likely to work, monitor outcomes and step up only when needed. The tiered model at the center of ADC 660 applies this to families, ordering help from brief support and psychoeducation through engagement and couple therapy to intensive family therapy. Copello et al. (2005) described three routes by which families can be helped: engaging the relative who is using, joint treatment with the family and support for family members in their own right. A good plan uses all three, matched to each person.
Assessing Each Member
Glen is six months sober, attending outpatient treatment and couple therapy, taking naltrexone and has had no relapse. His main risks are weekday evenings and guilt about Tyler. Lisa is less anxious than at the start, sleeps better and attends a family group, though she still worries about relapse. Tyler, fifteen, is in the first phase of family therapy; his use has fallen from daily to two or three times a week, and he has returned to school. Emma, ten, has finished a children's group, and her stomachaches have eased; her teacher reports she is more settled. Carol has stopped lending money, attends the family group and reports better sleep.
| Family member | Current tier | Why this tier | Signs for stepping up | Signs for stepping down |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carol | Brief support (family group) | Strain eased after brief help | Sleep or mood worsening; Glen relapses | Continues well at six months |
| Emma | Brief support (school check-ins; group completed) | Settled; protective factors in place | Stomachaches return; school concerns | Already at the lowest tier |
| Lisa | Support in her own right plus couple therapy | Ongoing role in Glen's recovery and Tyler's therapy | Depression or exhaustion; relapse at home | Couple therapy ends as planned |
| Glen | Outpatient treatment plus couple therapy | Early recovery; relationship rebuilding | Any lapse; craving rising | Step down to aftercare at nine months |
| Tyler | Intensive family therapy | Use and school problems across systems | Use not falling by phase two; legal trouble | Use stopped and school stable |
Placements and Their Evidence
Carol remains at the briefest tier, because the 5-Step Method studied earlier helped her and stepped care counsels against adding more. Emma stays at brief support: her group is complete, protective factors identified by research are in place and her teacher is watching. Lisa and Glen continue couple therapy, which the review by Rowe (2012) found to be the best-supported family approach for adults. Glen continues his individual outpatient treatment and medication. Tyler is at the most intensive tier, multidimensional family therapy, because his problems span home and school and Rowe's review identifies family therapy as well supported for adolescents.
How the Parts Connect
The plan works because its parts support each other. Lisa's own support strengthens her capacity to monitor Tyler and comfort Emma. Glen's recovery is a precondition for his role in Tyler's therapy, and Tyler's therapy addresses his father's drinking, which helps Glen too. Carol's decision to stop lending removed one way Glen could have funded a relapse. Copello et al. (2005) argued that family members benefit from help in their own right and that their improved coping can support the user's recovery; the Hartleys illustrate both.
Review Points
The plan will be reviewed after six weeks, then at the three-month and six-month marks, by the family's coordinating counselor. At each review she will check Glen's sobriety and craving, Tyler's urine screens and school reports, Emma's teacher's observations, and Lisa's and Carol's well-being. Each person's tier will be adjusted using the signs in the table. If Glen relapses, the plan steps up for the whole family: Lisa and Carol return to more frequent support, Emma's safety plan is reactivated and Tyler's therapist is informed.
What the Course Has Shown
The modules have moved from understanding how addiction affects families, through children's needs and engaging a reluctant relative, to brief help, couple therapy and intensive family therapy. Their common lesson is that families are both affected by addiction and part of recovery from it, and that help works best when it is matched to each person's needs rather than offered at one level to everyone. Stepped care keeps the plan honest: start with the least intensive help likely to work, watch closely and step up when the signs say so.
Coordinating the Helpers
Five people at different tiers means several helpers: Carol's nurse and the family group leader, Emma's teacher, Lisa and Glen's couple therapist, Glen's outpatient counselor and Tyler's family therapist. Without coordination, each could work with a partial picture. The plan names one coordinating counselor at the Omaha program, with each family member's written consent to share relevant information. Copello et al. (2005) noted that family help is often fragmented across services; a single point of contact keeps the plan coherent and lets the family tell their story once.
Planning for a Relapse
Sobell and Sobell (2000) framed stepped care as continuing rather than one-time decisions, and relapse is the clearest test. The family has agreed in advance what will happen if Glen drinks. He will tell Lisa and his counselor within a day, rather than hiding it. Lisa will contact the coordinating counselor. The couple will add a session that week, and Tyler's therapist will be told so the family sessions can address it. Emma will be told simply and reassured. Agreeing on this now, while things are going well, means a lapse becomes an event the plan expects rather than a crisis that undoes it.
Conclusion
Sobell and Sobell's stepped care principle, Copello and colleagues' three routes and Rowe's review of family therapies together shape a tiered plan for the Hartleys. Carol and Emma stay at brief support, Lisa and Glen continue couple therapy alongside Glen's treatment, and Tyler receives intensive family therapy, with review points that let each person's help rise or fall as their needs change.
References
Copello, A. G., Velleman, R. D. B., & Templeton, L. J. (2005). Family interventions in the treatment of alcohol and drug problems. Drug and Alcohol Review, 24(4), 369-385. https://doi.org/10.1080/09595230500302356
Rowe, C. L. (2012). Family therapy for drug abuse: Review and updates 2003-2010. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 38(1), 59-81. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1752-0606.2011.00280.x
Sobell, M. B., & Sobell, L. C. (2000). Stepped care as a heuristic approach to the treatment of alcohol problems. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 68(4), 573-579. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-006X.68.4.573
Reading the ADC 660 Module 8 assignment instructions
The final module of ADC 660 usually asks for a tiered family treatment plan. Follow the Module 8 instructions in your Aspen course; the family is a composite. State the principles of a tiered or stepped approach. Assess each family member's needs, including children's. Place each person at a tier and explain why that level, and not a higher one, is right for now. Set review points with clear signs for stepping up or down. Show how the parts of the plan fit together so that one person's treatment supports another's. Draw on evidence for each element. Use APA 7 throughout, and write the plan so a colleague taking over the case could follow it. Where a member is doing well, say so, since stepping down is part of the model too.
Inside the ADC 660 Module 8 example
The Hartleys, the composite family, have each moved through the course: Glen into treatment and couple therapy, Lisa through family support, Tyler into family therapy, Emma into a children's group and Carol, Glen's mother, through brief help from her nurse. The Sobells provide the stepped care principle. Copello, Velleman and Templeton name three routes of family help. Rowe's review of family therapy trials supports the choice of couple therapy for Glen and Lisa and family therapy for Tyler. A five-row tier table places each family member, with three review points over six months.
ADC 660 Module 8 rubric: what earns full marks
Tiered plans earn credit for clear principles, a fair assessment of each family member and placements justified against both need and evidence. This example states the stepped care logic and applies it person by person, so that Carol stays at the briefest tier while Tyler is at an intensive one. Each placement names the evidence behind it. Review points have specific signs for stepping up or down, which makes the plan workable rather than static. The paper shows how the parts connect: Lisa's support helps Emma, and Glen's recovery shapes Tyler's therapy. A colleague could pick up the case from the plan alone. The closing reflection ties the modules into one argument rather than listing them.
ADC 660 Module 8 help: mistakes that cost marks
Tiered plans often place every family member at the most intensive level, which wastes resources and ignores stepped care. Start low and justify each step up. Assess children explicitly; they are often left out. Name the evidence behind each element. Set review points with concrete signs rather than "as needed." Show how the parts of the plan affect each other. Remember the plan is a starting point: families change, and the tier for each person should change with them. A brief closing reflection on the course can show how the modules fit together. Write the plan in plain language that a family member could read and recognize as their own.
Write yours, or have the desk draft it
This paper is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Aspen University document. Read it for the moves, then write your own to the instructions in your classroom. If you want one built to your exact prompt and rubric, the first custom sample is free and arrives in 24 to 48 hours.
More ADC 660 and Psychology and Addiction Studies sample papers
- ADC 660 Module 1: Addiction in the Family Context
- ADC 660 Module 2: Family Systems and Roles
- ADC 660 Module 3: Children of Parents With Addictions
- ADC 660 Module 4: Engaging Families in Treatment
- ADC 660 Module 5: Brief Family Interventions
- ADC 660 Module 6: Behavioral Couple Therapy
- ADC 660 Module 7: Intensive Family Therapy
- PAC 320 Module 6: Maintenance and Relapse Prevention
- PAC 230 Module 8: Reducing Adverse Health Outcomes in Families
- PAC 610 Module 1: Neurons, Neurotransmitters and History
- ADC 665 Module 8: Integrating Knowledge, Skills and Attitudes
ADC 660 Module 8 questions, answered
What does ADC 660 Module 8 usually ask for?
Aspen's ADC 660 ends with a tiered family treatment plan, so a plan placing each family member at a tier of help with review points is typical. Read your Module 8 prompt for specifics.
What is a tiered family treatment plan?
A plan that matches each family member's help to need, starting with the briefest effective option and stepping up only when monitoring shows it is needed.
Should every family member get the same level of help?
No. Stepped care means offering each person the least intensive help likely to work, so a grandmother may need brief support while a teenager needs intensive therapy.
Where can I find a free ADC 660 Module 8 sample paper?
The whole paper is on this page: tiered treatment principles, a needs assessment for five family members, a tier table and review points.
How often should a tiered plan be reviewed?
Set review points in advance, for example after the first six weeks and again at the three- and six-month marks, with specific signs for stepping each person's help up or down.