--- title: Tips for improving person-centered services description: David Mee-Lee shares his insights on what it means to balance Work, Love and Play as a working professional in a clinical settings. image: https://blog.changecompanies.net/hubfs/Blog/Banner%20Graphics/AdobeStock_440257826.jpeg --- [Technical Support](https://support.changecompanies.net/?hsLang=en) [Contact Sales](https://go.changecompanies.net/contact?hsLang=en) Search changecompanies.net About Us [About](https://changecompanies.net/about?hsLang=en) [Leadership](https://changecompanies.net/about?hsLang=en#leadership) [Advisors](https://changecompanies.net/about?hsLang=en#advisors) [Contact Us](https://go.changecompanies.net/contact?hsLang=en) [Careers](https://changecompanies.net/careers?hsLang=en) [![The Change Companies Logo](https://844aa8d177dcf87d02fc-8f72bb99f02c2e7ec80fe67c19b57c36.ssl.cf1.rackcdn.com/newsite/TCClogo_website.png)](https://blog.changecompanies.net/) - Products Products [![](https://blog.changecompanies.net/hs-fs/hubfs/Internal/Logos/Atlas%20favicon.png?width=28&height=28&name=Atlas%20favicon.png) Atlas: Behavior Change Platform Helps agencies and providers drive measurable behavior change, so fewer people return to custody or use.](https://changecompanies.net/atlas?hsLang=en) [Sessions Plan check-ins and groups, capture notes, and track delivery fidelity, all tied to case and treatment plans.](https://changecompanies.net/atlas-sessions) [![](https://blog.changecompanies.net/hs-fs/hubfs/Email%20Graphics/Icons%20and%20Thumbnails/Small-Icon-Template_FeaturedArticle.png?width=28&height=28&name=Small-Icon-Template_FeaturedArticle.png) *Interactive Journaling®* Evidence-based expressive writing that blends MI, CBT, and the stages of change to guide lasting change.](https://changecompanies.net/interactive-journaling) [![](https://blog.changecompanies.net/hs-fs/hubfs/Website%20Pages/DCP%20and%20Atlas/Treatment%20and%20Recovery%20Icon.png?width=28&height=28&name=Treatment%20and%20Recovery%20Icon.png) Clinical Assessments DSM-5 and ASAM Criteria–compatible tools for diagnosis, placement, and service planning, with Evince.](https://shop.changecompanies.net/collections/clinical-assesments) Training [![](https://blog.changecompanies.net/hs-fs/hubfs/Email%20Graphics/Icons%20and%20Thumbnails/Small-Icon-Template_BoosterTraining.png?width=28&height=28&name=Small-Icon-Template_BoosterTraining.png) Curriculum Training Train facilitators on the key skills that make *Interactive Journaling®* most effective.](https://changecompanies.net/training?hsLang=en) [![](https://blog.changecompanies.net/hs-fs/hubfs/Website%20Pages/FP%20and%20Training/BasicFidelity-Icon.png?width=28&height=28&name=BasicFidelity-Icon.png) Self-paced Learning The Fidelity Platform: online, self-paced training that upskills facilitators on their schedule.](https://changecompanies.net/fidelity-platform?hsLang=en) [![](https://blog.changecompanies.net/hs-fs/hubfs/Website%20Pages/Homepage/ASAM%20logo-2.png?width=28&height=28&name=ASAM%20logo-2.png) The ASAM Criteria Open enrollment trainings from Train for Change on ASAM skills, implementation, and CARF certification.](https://changecompanies.net/asam?hsLang=en) - 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To be fully present in person-centered services, it starts with looking inwards. This is especially true when serving people who face poverty, stigma, scarce resources, and broken systems of care. Secondary trauma is an occupational hazard when in contact with such disadvantaged people every day. - What prejudices do you harbor consciously? — Is this client just here to keep their welfare benefits and uninterested in working and changing? - What unconscious prejudices might I harbor? — About race, gender, sexual orientation, work ethic, poverty? - What are my conditioned reactions in assessments? — Daily use of any substance, legal or illegal, is addictive use. Diagnostic criteria for Substance Use Disorder do not reference frequency and quantity of use, but rather the process and effects of using on function and life consequences. - How stable is your emotional and home life, finances, intimate partner relationships? — Are you so preoccupied that you have little reserve to be present for your clients?   ### **Tip 2** See the forest, not just the trees. [The idiom](https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=Not+seeing+the+forest+for+the+trees&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8) “not seeing the forest for the trees” means someone is too focused on minor details and failing to grasp the larger, overall picture or situation. It’s like being so close to individual trees that you can’t see the entire forest. When faced with a challenging client situation, it is easy to get too close to the “trees” of: - Client reluctance to change and poor follow-through - Diagnostic ambivalence about marijuana use — is it medical, addictive, or recreational use? - Self-medication of mental health problems or co-occurring disorder use? - Lack of resources - Complex service choices A 500-foot view of the forest might focus on: - What does the client want most? — Just to keep their welfare benefits? Mental health services but not addiction treatment or vice versa? To get on disability? To get a job or housing? - Does the client meet criteria for Substance Use Disorder despite quantity and frequency of use? - Is more history information needed to look at the time sequence of substance use in relation to mental health symptoms? - Are their treatment providers skilled in assessing and treating co-occurring disorders? - What systems changes are needed to meet the need for complexity-capable services? [Read the entire July blog on David Mee-Lee's Tips n Topics here →](https://changecompanies.net/tipsandtopics/side-benefits-of-retirement-farewell-speeches-and-their-tips-dr.-who) --- ![DML Device trio](https://blog.changecompanies.net/hs-fs/hubfs/DML%20Device%20trio.png?width=460&height=460&name=DML%20Device%20trio.png) Authored by Dr. David Mee-Lee, “Tips & Topics” is a monthly blog covering three sections: Savvy, Skills and Soul, with additional sections varying from month to month. Topics include Stump the Shrink, Success Stories and Shameless Selling. [Read more and subscribe to David's Tips & Topics here →](https://changecompanies.net/tipsandtopics)   ---   ![David Mee-Lee](https://blog.changecompanies.net/hs-fs/hubfs/Website%20Pages/ASAM/DavidMeeLee_Headshot_Isolated.png?width=150&name=DavidMeeLee_Headshot_Isolated.png) #### David Mee-Lee David Mee-Lee is a retired addiction psychiatrist based in Woodland, California. Mee-Lee was Editor-in-Chief of the American Society of Addiction Medicine’s (ASAM) Criteria for all editions from 1991-2013. He was President of DML Training and Consulting with over 40 years’ experience in person-centered treatment and program development for people with co-occurring mental health and substance use conditions. 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