Essay Instructions: I am a graduate student studying counseling, and I am currently taking a course called substance abuse treatment. The book for the course is called Substance Abuse: Information for School Counselors, Social Workers, Therapists, and Counselors (4th Edition) by Gary L. Fisher and Thomas C. Harrison Please complete the following assignment:
Meeting paper (three pages): a) attend an open meeting for alcoholics anonymous (AA) or Narcotics Anonymous (NA) and b) write a thoughtful paper about you AA/NA experience. Be sure to include the location, member demographics (age, gender, SES, etc.) number in attendance, topics/issues discussed, whether or not you learned something new/interesting, and you personal reactions after attending the meeting.
Here are two samples of my writing from the course:
Reflection Paper Two (sample one)
Abraham Lincoln once said, ?Always bear in mind that your own resolution to success is more important than any other one thing.? Lincoln?s quote implies that with any noble endeavor, one is going to face difficulties along the way; however, if one is resolute and steadfast, one will accomplish his or her goals. As I read Lincoln?s motivational words, I think about an important question that many professors across America ask graduate students in counseling programs: What do you imagine will be the most difficult part of working with the AOD population? This question is important because Substance Abuse Counselors have a responsibility to provide support and encouragement to individuals in crisis who suffer from AOD addiction and dependency, and examining difficult aspects of working with this population will help one be a more effective Substance Abuse Counselor. Dealing with client denial and stepping out of my own rigid views about addiction are two aspects that would be challenging; however, preventing a client from overdosing would the most challenging part of the job.
One difficult aspect of working with the AOD population is dealing with denial. Denial occurs when an individual refuses to acknowledge he or she has an addiction. Clients use denial because they do not know how to cope with their addiction. These individuals become so dependent on the substance they cannot think, feel or act normally without it. They are willing to continue using and abusing the drug in spite of apparent negative repercussions (inability to maintain a job, good grades in school, or a healthy romantic relationship). They are under the false idea that ?they need the drug to survive? (Fisher & Harrison, 2009). I sometimes imagine myself sitting across the room from such a client. As I try to help the client therapeutically, will my words come out correctly? Will I be able to point out discrepancies between stated client goals and behavior? Should I use the technique of confrontation to jolt the client into productive action? I do not have quick answers to these questions; however, as a counselor, I will always remember that denial is a sign that a client is sick in, need of help and a part of the process.
Another challenging aspect of working with the AOD population is stepping outside of my own rigid views of addiction. I was raised in a very religious home where morality was drilled into my brain daily. My parents would often caution, ?Don?t swear! Do not engage in premarital sex! Don?t use drugs!? Engaging in such behavior, as my parent saw it, was an indicator of moral weakness. Because of my upbringing, I tend to gravitate towards the moral model of addiction which explains?addiction as a consequence of personal choice? (Fisher & Harrison, 2009). This model suggests that if individuals make better choices, they would not be addicted to drugs. Taking this class has helped me gain a better understanding of how addiction works, though, and therefore, as a counselor working with an AOD population, I will not be judgmental because I now understand that many factors in addition making good choices contribute to addiction, and the moral model alone simply cannot and does not explain addiction.
Finally, another and difficult part of working with the AOD population is preventing a client who is addicted to drugs for over dosing, killing him or herself. This is the most difficult of the three. With enough therapeutic coaching, I can help a client move pass denial. Moreover, I can and have opened my mind accepting as valid the multivariate model of addiction. What about death from overdose? It has an erry finality to it that is unsettling. There is no coming back from death. It is common knowledge that people who use and abuse drugs often overdose and die eventually. I have read countless headlines of celebrates who have died from overdose. In the United States, between 2005 and 2010 the number of deaths from overdose increased by 347 percent, and 11 people die every day from drug overdose (Morgan). In my role as counselor, I would have to steer drug addicted individuals way from harming themselves or worse, taking their own life.
Indeed, death from overdose and to a lesser extent, client denial and rigid views about addiction are going to be difficult aspects of the profession I will have to confront. I remain optimistic, nevertheless. I will use the therapeutic methods that I have learned in this course and beyond to overcome the difficulties, and in so doing, I am confident that I will be able to help clients overcome their addictions.
Reflection Paper One (sample 2)
I believe a variety of factors determine whether a person abuses alcohol or other drugs. Environment plays a role. Say for instance, a child grows up in a family where one parent or both parents drink excessively. The child might grow up thinking this behavior is acceptable and thus emulate that behavior as an adult, or worse during adolescence. Other people abuse drugs because of the pleasurable feeling it provides. A high school friend of mine would get ?high? from marijuana four to six times a week. ?I like getting faded. It just makes me feel right?like I can just relax,? he would say often. Stress can cause people to turn to drugs or alcohols. Stress in an inevitable part of life. In a way, a small amount of stress can be good motivation, causing people to push themselves to do better and have ambition. An example would be a college student who is afraid to take a required math course out of fear that he may not do well, but decides to enroll in course and alleviates stress by deciding to meet with a tutor twice a week, buy study guides from Barnes and Nobles Book Store, and form student groups, greatly improving his chances of passing the class.
Some people believe alcohol abusers are morally deficient or lack discipline. They reach this conclusion by looking at the visible effects drug and alcohol abuse and then forming a value judgment. For example, I was at the train station recently, when an intoxicated man came onto the platform. I could tell that he was intoxicated because his speech was slightly slurred, he was holding a can of beer, and he had a hard time keeping his balance. A man on the platform who was standing next to me turned to me and said, ?That guy is a looser; he needs to go to church!? This man apparently values church and as follows made a snap judgment. His statement implies that he does believe the gentleman good morals. A few weeks prior to that incident, I was walking to my car, having just left a graduate course I was taking that semester, when a classmate, Angela, approached me in the parking lot and asked if I could give her a ride home because here care would not start. A good samaritan, I agreed to give her a ride home. On the way home, we came to a stop light. At a full stop, a man who reeked of alcohol approached the front passenger side where my classmate was sitting, and asked here for some money. My class mate nervously and quickly rolled up the window and looked away. Embarrassed, the man at the widow walked away.?Damn alcoholic,? she said ?he needs to put the bottle down and find a job.? Her statement implied that the does not think that person was disciplined enough to keep a job because he had been drinking.
Like the people in both examples, other people do this all the time: They make value judgments about people so quickly and seamlessly they do not realize they are doing it. I grant it that morally and discipline can factor into the equation. However, these explanations as the cause alone are too simplistic; substance abuse is a complex issue that stems from a variety of factors, some of which are discussed above. My understanding of the reasons as to why people abuse alcohol and other drugs affects my view in that I am more understanding towards them. In my view, substance abusers are individuals that need help and are not bad people per se.
