Alcohol Counseling Experience

When I walked into the meeting, I was a little apprehensive. It was only a small group of about ten people, which was held at a local hospital. Knowing that I had to explain I was there to observe as a student studying social work, I was worried that the participants would hold back from their real behaviors in the group and that they would be cold to me. However, that assumption could not have been farther from the truth. All my apprehension flew out the window, as the members of the small group all welcomed me with open arms. Apparently, these were regulars. Most in the group attended every meeting, and continued to use the support of the group to deal with the continuous chaos and trauma of living with an addict. I was welcomed to sit and observe the behavior of the individual members of the group express their grief, fear, and

For my second substance abuse meeting, I had the opportunity to attend an Alcohol Anonyms (AA) meeting. The AA meeting chosen was located at Crossover Ministry Clinic within Richmond, Virginia on the Southside. Crossover Ministry Clinic is considered a health care ministry that provides health care services to members of the Richmond Metropolitan community that is uninsured. Their mission is to provide health care resources to people in need through the teaching of Jesus Christ. The meeting is called Serenity U and is held on Mondays at 10:00am. This meeting was open discussion and incorporated literature.

At the beginning of my training, I was hesitant to work with people struggling with addiction. However, at this point, I am excited to begin working with this population. The raw honesty presented in the group setting along with the anger at the possibility of losing a safe place created a dynamic I wanted to further explore. Research supports that individuals attending group therapy in a 12 step program format succeed if they have the proper support and motivation (Cite). The group dynamic demonstrated that recovery takes time and self-discovery, similar to other situations dealt with in therapy. Subsequently, by using my sense of self and humor with clients struggling with addiction, I can help them in their journey. Furthermore, the client needs to identify accountability at their own pace in the process and not when others dictate. This knowledge and the personalization of addiction will aid me in the future support of my

Individual Therapy for Jeff. The counselor would initially focus of Jeff’s alcohol addiction Counselor would use Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Person-Centered therapy to address Jeff’s alcohol addiction, depression, and anxiety, erratic behavior. The counselor would also refer Jeff to the Psychiatrist for medications for depression. The Counselor would get more information about Jeff’s alcoholism- frequency, quantity, physical problems due to alcohol. The counselor would help Jeff to recognize problematic behaviors and help guide him into recovery and empowered Jeff to take action and change his behaviors. The counselor would teach Jeff how to break the addictive cycle and establish total abstinence from all mood-altering drugs. The counselor

It should be noticed that in the recent few decades, the science developed at an astonishing pace, and the problem of substance abuse cause a huge public concern. Currently, substance abuse has already become a pandemic around the world. It costs individuals substantially, and it of their family as a whole. It is essential for the society to help those people who struggle with drug addiction to get rid of their pain and get back their health and balance life. Therefore, I understand the substance abuse is a tough area, and people who are struggling with addiction really need help. During the course of the interview, I

The group prayed after reviewing the guidelines. Then, a participant of the group proceeded to read the “how it works” from the AA book. Afterwards, another member read the 12 traditions. Two participants shared their experience with Alcoholism while others provided reflections and support. The facilitator informed me that each meeting two participants share. After the two participants shared, the AA meeting ended with another prayer. This paper will talk about my observations and reactions attending the AA meeting, and how attending the meeting will inform my future work as a clinician. The purpose of this paper is to present my personal experience of an AA meeting, and how I plan to grow as a therapist from that

Regardless, it was so inspiring when I did hear some good reports, and I noticed how eager those former clients were to share about what was working for them. In fact, at times it was hard to tell who was more excited about their success, me or the former client. It is sobering to know that this is how working in this field is likely to pan out. What I mean by saying this, is that I must get used to the possibility that most of the clients who pass through whatever facility I am at, are more likely not to succeed (succeed per the agency’s follow-up requirements), than to succeed, and I must not take the client’s shortcomings as a personal failure of sorts. For this reason, I now realize that this is one of the reasons that I hate this disease with such passion, and want to work in my community to improve these statistics, and remove the stigma that has been attached to Substance Use Disorders for far too long.

Another challenge I face is one of my own, my age, race, and gender. By the time I graduate I will be at least 22 years old and most people that become addicted get that way at a young age. The younger the child that tries the drug, the more likely they are to become addicted (Berger, (2006) p.456). As a Caucasian woman I will most likely be dealing with African American men, because they have the high numbers of inmates in prison for drug-related crimes (Roger & Merkle (2005) p. 7). My gender and race may make it hard to overcome differences and gain their trust, but I hope to break through to them enough so that they can open up to me in therapy sessions. I plan to do my best to understand them and help them as much as I can so that they can see that I am serious about helping them. Another problem many counselors with run into is that people are many times forced to choose between prison and rehab, so those in rehab may not want to be there. Again I will need to overcome their attitude and gain their trust.

At this medical clinic, in weekly sessions, we gradually led our clients towards group sharing, identifying issues, defining goals, and evolving treatments in order to help them overcome drug dependencies and relapses. Overall, in this cross-training role towards a future position as a Medical Assistant, the additional valuable medical experience that I obtained at the Bronson Medical Centre as an Addiction Counselor solidly increased my future ability to professionally assist patients with substance abuse problems in a clinical

Drug addiction and alcoholism have a devastating effect on not only the addicts who suffers from these illnesses, but also on friends, family and workmates who interact with these addicts on a regular basis. When the addict finally succumbs to their addiction, the only way out is usually through the help of a professional and reputable inpatient addiction treatment center.

Within this meeting my role was simple. I was simply there to learn, observe, and develop a sense of support for the individuals working to reach their personal goal. It was easy to be identified as a learner and possible provider as I had my notebook out to take notes. I hope my identity encouraged the members that there are helping professional who have a desire to learn and not judge. The content of the session was one that resembles AA meetings. The meeting was held by a fellow member as the facilitator. After the welcome, the group recited the serenity prayer. Next, the facilitator asked members to read: who is an addict, what is the NA program, why are we here, how it works, and the twelve traditions of NA. This particular meeting was

This alcohol and drug counselor-training course provides an introductory learning experience in substance abuse counseling, promoting professional development and growth. You will gain an overview knowledge in all areas of addiction treatment as it relates to the causes and consequences of addition as they relate to the effects on the individual, family, community, and society. Other material address the challenges faced in intervention, treatment, education, and prevention of alcohol and drug abuse. Required competencies and guidelines are covered for those who are seeking licensures within the state of Texas.

Attending three different types of treatment meetings helped me understand more clearly the ways that addicts mostly benefit from the provided services and support during their recovery processes. I say mostly because, although the benefits received from these meetings seem to outweigh the negatives for members, the meetings may lack the additional support offered via counseling or psychotherapy. I will share my experiences with the three types of groups I attended to demonstrate my understanding, impressions, and suggestions of possible ways to utilize and improve upon these supportive structures when working with substance abusing clients. Specifically, I intend to offer constructive feedback and criticism of ways I would like to

In many different instances we have often heard people say that there is distance in numbers when it comes to helping people reroof a house or even trying to get someone to attend treatment. The addict may thoroughly believe that s/he does not have a problem until being confronted by co-workers, family and friends. By having family and friends create an intervention the addict is shown how many people support him/her in their need for treatment (INPATIENT REHAB TREATMENT website, 2016, para. 2). This same method is also carried over into treating the addiction with a team of professionals. When working with an addict there are many different aspects that can be involved so that is why the multidisciplinary team is important; the team may

First, I will begin my discussion my reflecting on a video titled Interview with substance abuse counselor Errol Rodriguez Ph.D. In this class video, Errol discussed what a typical day I the life of a clinical psychologist was like. He provided in-depth information which explained how to properly help those with substance abuse problems. In addition, he explained how he developed an interest in this field and what resources are available for those who chose to pursue this profession. Despite this what I found most interesting was how one individual who suffers from substance abuse may impact at least 4 to 6 other individuals. Most important as Errol stated prior to entering this profession one must take into consideration their own level of use and interest regarding addictive substances such as drugs or alcohol.