Alcohol and Drug Abuse Counseling
Personal Vision and Learning
Mission Statement
Ethical Framework
Professional Strengths and Limitations
Identification and fulfillment of Professional Potential
Professional Diversity
Integration of Theory and Practice
Ongoing Professional Developments
Alcohol (and other drugs) abuse is not just a problem of an individual but that of the whole society. This implies that the whole society has a role to play in the rehabilitation of the people who resort to drug abuse when they find it hard to put up with the ups and downs of life. Particularly, the counselors working at the rehabilitation center have a major role to play when it comes to restoring the independence and normalcy in an addict's life.
Personal Vision and Learning
During the course of my degree, I have acquired vast amount of knowledge on how a counselor should go about when he or she is dealing with an alcohol (or any other substance) abuser. It is not only just about counseling the residents of the rehabilitation center to give up on the drugs, but also about various aspects of that person's personality and role in the community. I believe that it is vital for a counselor to understand and respect the individuality of a person and the uniqueness of a community before he goes ahead with his professional tasks of counseling, within the ethical principles of the profession. Appropriate knowledge of social and cultural diversity is very important for anyone who is part of the social work, be it a counselor or any other kind of social worker. In modern societies, according to Hannerz (1992), counselors and social workers are confronted with intense changes in their professional life in which they have to face unfamiliar cultures and micro-cultures. Therefore, Grothe and Straub (2008) are of the view that it is mandatory for the social workers and counselors to adapt themselves according to the changes and at the same time enlarge and reconstruct their competencies.
Social and cultural diversity is not the only field in which a counselor has to reconstruct his or her professional competencies. I reckon I was always (and I believe every counselor should) very enthusiastic about learning novel as well as old alcohol and drug rehabilitation techniques that are being used in the most renowned rehabilitation centers, the world over. Being familiarized with these techniques and applying them in my professional work has always been one of my top priorities.
Although, it is not an easy task to work in a group, over the course of my degree I learnt to alter my professional skills in a way that would be helpful in integrating myself and contributing in a group. I feel accomplished when today I am able to provide substantial contribution while working in a group.
Many reports including the Research Report Series (2012) have concluded that the Therapeutic Community model, designed for the treatment of alcohol and other drug abuse people, is better than many drug-involved treatments for this purpose. The role of the counselor is further highlighted in this kind of model. Working in this model, I have to make sure that my social norms are balanced in a way that would prove to be a source of influence and motivation and influence for the addicts. It is important for counselor and social workers like me to do so because there are no drugs involved in this kind of treatment and the only way drug abusers can be brought to normalcy is through the development of effective social skills by the counselors.
I also learnt to appreciate the difference between rehabilitation and habilitation at the therapeutic community models, which would require me to adopt different approaches for the residents as a counselor. Rehabilitation is for residents who present with a normal social and family history in the past. The reason why they are here is alcohol and other drug abuse. Meanwhile, Jainchill (1997) said that those who need to be habilitated are people who have never been exposed to a normal social life. Jainchill (1997) also said that one of the most important principles that I had to come at terms with while working in a therapeutic community is "self-help," meaning that the individuals who are receiving treatment are those who contribute to the change process.
While I have studied and analyzed many rehabilitation techniques, I have come to the
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