| SUBSCRIBER LOGIN |
|---|
| News Briefs | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
||||||||||
| Polls |
|---|
| 20% + off all books |
|---|
|
 |
| The Rubik's Cube of Addiction Counseling Part 5: Counseling Addiction Intervention |
| Written by William A. Howatt, PhD, EdD, ICADC | |
| Tuesday, 10 April 2007 | |
|
When most people think of addiction counseling, intervention is what
jumps out as the most visible aspect. Perhaps it is because
intervention is where “the rubber hits the road” and visible progress
starts to be made in a client’s recovery.
Intervention follows the foundation stages of orientation, screening and assessing, reviewing treatment planning and recovery tools and managing crisis situations. These four early stages were examined in this series likening the successful treatment of addictive disorders to solving a Rubik’s cube. The first article explored setting the stage and orienting clients to addiction counseling; the second outlined considerations for screening and assessing to help clients determine their options; the third reviewed treatment planning and recovery tools; and the fourth explored managing crisis situations. Those first four articles provided addiction counselors with a road map of the actions that need to be considered and in place prior to formal addiction counseling. This installment examines the fifth side of the Rubik’s cube, which represents intervention, and introduces Counseling Addiction Intervention, a six-step integrative model for helping clients in formal individual counseling. One of the biggest power tools in addiction recovery, it focuses on helping clients solve problems, make new choices, and take new actions in a one-on-one setting. One of the core outcomes of addiction counseling is to provide clients with new information that acts as a conduit to new opportunities. It is important to note that in the first four parts of the Rubik’s cube series, a counselor would need to already have in place their counseling micro skills (e.g., active listening), addiction theory, counseling theory, motivation theory, and recovery tools. However, my 18 years experience in the field indicates that the actual persona of the addiction counselor in regard to their attitude towards the counseling relationship, authentic willingness to help, and their belief in a person’s potential may be the single biggest skill they can bring to addiction counseling. While Corey (1996) states, “. . . no single theory is comprehensive enough to account for the complexities of human behaviors, especially when the range of client types and specific problems are taken into consideration,” there may in fact be no one counseling model to deal with every potential problem that may arise. However, addiction counselors must have a process that is proven to be safe, has clinical efficacy when helping people change, and is definable and measurable. In addition, all strategies in this business need to be built on continuous improvement platforms because they evolve as the counselor develops more skills, experience, and expertise. This field is evolving and growing every day, so all addiction counselors need to continue to grow, be committed to learning, and take professional development courses to stay current. A well thought out counseling strategy will have a clear beginning, middle, and end. Since most addiction counseling sessions take about one hour to achieve effective results, having a strategy that is focused on learning new behaviors is beneficial. The outcome is to provide the counselor with clear specifics as to where they are in the strategy at all times so they can maintain a clear focus and intention. Too often I see young counselors looping and asking questions without direction or a clear strategy. To be an effective addiction counselor it is important to develop a counseling orientation that can be defined and measured. The Counseling Addiction Intervention provides a platform to build a counseling orientation. The section below introduces the six steps of this intervention. It is important to note that before a counselor can ever engage in addiction counseling they must be fully aware and adhere to their professional codes of ethics. Want to read the entire article? Don't miss out...Subscribe now to Counselor Magazine—or buy the single issue! It's easy. Just follow the links below:
If you have any questions, please
\n
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
for more information!
             |
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|