BACKGROUND AND OVERVIEW OF MENTAL-HEALTH AND SUBSTANCE-ABUSE TREATMENT SYSTEMS - MEETING THE NEEDS OF WOMEN WHO ARE PREGNANT OR PARENTING

Women with a psychiatric disorder who also abuse alcohol or other drug s have historically encountered barriers to integrated treatment for b oth disorders. Substance abuse treatment services and mental illness t reatment services are usually organized independently of each other an d few are designed to meet the needs of pregnant and parenting women. This chapter reviews the developmental histories of treatment systems for psychiatric and substance abuse disorders; the structural barriers that impede the delivery of services to individuals with co-occurring psychiatric and substance abuse disorders; the prevalence of dual dis orders; issues related to diagnosis and assessment, types of diagnoses and addictions; treatment issues specific to women who are pregnant o r parenting; models of service delivery; and initiatives directed at c hanging treatment systems.