Week 12 Blog

Discuss the complexity of working with clients who are also pregnant. How would a pregnancy change your approach to treatment? What issues might come up for you as a counselor? How might you talk about these risks with your client? How would you respond if your client continued to heavily drink or use substances while pregnant?

I think there are many complexities when working with a pregnant client. In a way, you are working with two individuals. The client’s use of substances has a direct impact on the unborn baby. Personally, I can see myself getting agitated if a pregnant client of mine continued to use. If I were working with a client who was pregnant and who used substances I would gather as much data as possible to present to the client. Maybe they do not know the risks? Maybe they don’t understand that their use of substances no only impacts them but also their baby?

For me, this is an area that I would have to seek extensive supervision due to my lack of experience. One point that is raised in the text is that pregnant women might deny or minimize their level of use. There are a couple of tools that counselors can use to try and get an accurate picture of the level of use. One is the T-ACE and one is the TWEAK. Both of these tools can be used as ways to get a real picture of what their use of substances is.

Another thing I am unclear about is the legality of substance abuse by a pregnant woman. If a mother gets her one-year-old high on crack or heroin, the baby will be taken away and she will suffer the legal consequences. What happens if a pregnant mother smokes crack or injects heroin?! Are there similar consequences? How is that handled? I always end up with more questions than answers after my posts but these help me to be more inquisitive and seek more answers.

 

What does it mean to you to advocate for clients and challenge bias? How do you feel about taking on that role? Is that a role you expected to take on as a counselor? Are there some groups for whom it would be harder or easier for you to advocate for? Does that reflect on your own beliefs and values? How so?

For me, it means working our best to identify our biases or ideas that we ourselves have and challenge them through education and experience. If we don’t know how we feel it is going to be very difficult for us to help those that are different from us. I personally enjoy challenging biases because I feel that it makes us grow. Some folks are very set in their ways, and by no means am I trying to change them or change their system of beliefs, but I feel that it is very important to inform so they can have a better idea of the people that surround them in our world as counselors. That way they can more informed decisions on their own feelings and emotions. There are a few groups of people I would have a hard time working with. First, sexual predators or sexual offenders. I don’t think, at this stage in my career, I would be able to work with them. I have very strong beliefs about individuals who sexual abuse/molest children so I would not be able to work with them in a professional setting. There have been times at my school where I have become aware of things that have happened between a parent and one of my students and I have to calm myself down quickly. It would be an exercise in self-control to remain professional should I come across one of these parents. At this point in my career, due to my lack of experience, I wouldn’t feel 100% comfortable working with addicted clients either. Being that I work in a school with adolescents, this is the population I feel most comfortable with. I also work with many staff members and parents so I also feel comfortable working with them when it has to do with their children. Working with a population other than that would, for me, take a few years of more experience with that population. 

 

Using the Blog References, find and specifically report on at minimum of four websites that you could use for information regarding gender and/or LGBT issues in addictions counseling. Give a minimum of one paragraph of explanation for each site listed.

http://www.algbtic.org/

The Association for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Issues in Counseling. This is a great site that provides an enormous amount of resources for counselors who work with LGBTQ clients. There is a tab on the upper right hand side of the page labeled ‘Resources.’ There is a tremendous amount of information under this tab that includes LGBTQ References and Resources, what it takes to be competent in this field, a therapist resource listing (although it seemed to be down when I looked at it), multicultural considerations, transgender considerations, and a page on safe schools.

The references and resources page alone has dozens of articles that are useful for counselors who work with this population. Although it was down, I am going to assume that they are working to fix the page where individuals can go to find therapists by state who are members of ALGBTIC. The Multicultural and Transgender pages under the Resources tab also have a very large amount of pages that individuals can visit to get support and information for working with this population of clients. Great page.

 

http://www.colage.org/

Children of Lesbians and Gays Everywhere. This is a great site that aims to untie youth with one or more LGTBQ parent. I think this is great because as the numbers of LGBTQ adults who adopt children increase, the amount of services we have to be able to provide also needs to increase. We are going to see more and more youth who have at least one LGBTQ parent and they need our support.

There is a great resources tab on this site as well. Site users can explore a lot of information and get connected to others who have LGBTQ parents. There is also a section in Spanish, which I love! Another great part of this site that I spent some time reading through was their Kidsafe Blog. Here, youth blog about their current experience, their history, and their own personal stories. This is such an amazing site for our youth to be aware of. I am wondering how we, as professionals, can get the information about these sites out! I have a Safe Space kit that I ordered for my school last year, but I feel like we need to do more to get these kinds of sites out to our kids! I love this site.

 

http://glma.org/index.cfm?nodeid=1

Gay and Lesbian Medical Association. This is a site that has been put together by healthcare providers that have been working to ensure equality in healthcare for LGBT individuals for more than 30 years. On the front page, there is a News section that links up to assistance for LGBTQ individuals who are signing up for Obamacare. There are specific resources available for these individuals that this organization wants to be sure they are aware of. There is also a section that goes over exactly what this organization has been working on in the past and what legislation they have had a say in.

There is also a section under the resource where LGBTQ patients can find a health care provider who is a member of GLMA. There are also links to articles that go over the top 10 things that LGBTQ patients need to discuss with their healthcare providers. These lists go over some very important things that LGTBQ patients need to bring up with their doctor. Some of these topics are safe sex, STD screening information, substance abuse, and proper diet and exercise. These are topics that, while they seem common sense, could very well be overlooked by individuals. Very informative site.

 

http://www.thetaskforce.org/

 The Gay and Lesbian Task Force. This is a website that outlines the work that this organization does to advocate for the LGBTQ population. The Task Force is a great organization to put clients in touch with due to their grassroots work. Clients can immediately become involved and be part of a movement that works to build political power of the LGBT community. A large part of successful work done with LGBTQ clients is putting them in touch with a community that they can use for support. This is a very large community and the members can actually work together as agents of change. The issues they work on are very expansive so our clients will surely be able to find an issue to get behind whether it is campus life, faith, hate crimes, or parenting and family. This is a great site to direct our clients to.

• What were your attitudes toward use of substances when you were a child and an adolescent?

My parents never really drank too much but they would have wine during the holidays or a beer during the game. When I was growing up I knew that my mother smoked cigarettes. I can remember stealing them from my mom and going out and smoking them in the woods. I also remember picking up half-smoked cigs off the ground and smoking them with friends of mine. I remember getting in trouble in 9^th grade when a group of friends and I got caught smoking outside the school. In middle school and high school my friends and I used substances all the time. It was completely normal and became routine for us to do so. The older kids definitely did it so that was another reason we got into drugs.

• What was your personal and peer group experience of substance use? How are your views the same or different now? What might it feel like to work with clients making different choices, or to encourage choices that you did not make?

As mentioned earlier, my group of peers used all types of substances. We experimented with many things that I would obviously advise my clients against. I mean, I was young and had a hard time saying no. I try not to regret much because what we did in our past makes us who we are and we can’t change that! When working with clients who are using substances, at times I will be able to relate to them and help them find a way to stop using. Counselors always need to keep in mind what the appropriate amount of disclosure is, but I definitely think that our experiences help us offer our clients the best care possible.

• Who advised you about drugs and alcohol, and when? What was your response? What encouraged or discouraged use in the approaches you encountered? What do you hope to emulate or discard from your models?

I honestly don’t remember ever having the ‘talk’ with my parents. I think they just assumed that I would get it in school and left it up to them. I remember being in the DARE program in elementary school which, I believe, was in 5^th grade. I also remember being in health class in high school and having a cop come in with a briefcase full of drugs. At that point my friends and I were trying just about anything we could so I remember really being interested in what he had in there. As I got older I saw how substances really messed some of my friends’ lives up. That was a reality check for me and I was able to curb my use due to being freaked out that I would end up like them. Bottom line, as I mentioned before, I try not to regret things or else I would spend a lot of time thinking about all the mistakes I have made. I try, instead, to use my experiences to help me be the best I can be with what I do as a counselor, husband, sibling, and son.

Just one…

It would definitely be a lie if I said that I only drink when I am stressed. For the most part I have had a fairly stress-free life, but drinking was definitely part of it. For the most part, the stress didn’t exist until I got a ‘real job.’ Last year was my first year as a full-time counselor. I had worked in schools for several years but only as a para-professional. I would show up when the students showed up and left as soon as the bell rang. I would leave and either go to the gym or go grab a few beers with friends. When I started my job as a school counselor, however, I started to bring a lot home with me. Not bring home physically, but mentally. My wife would always comment about me zoning out or not being as present as I usually am. I started by brushing it off but then I realized that I had changed as well. It took a good quarter for me to kind of get back to where I was before I started that job. I remembered learning about how important it was to take care of ourselves in this field so I amped up going to the gym and that made a huge difference. Towards the end of the year, the weather got nice out, I stopped going to the gym as much, and had every excuse to stop at Caddies or Nest in Bethesda for some evening beers. The weather stayed nice for the remainder of the year, and drinking took the place of taking care of myself in a healthy way such as going to the gym. It would be safe to say that my self-control resources were a bit depleted.

At the end of the year my boss retired and I was promoted to resource counselor. Over the summer there was a lot of planning to do with administration for the upcoming school year so I didn’t really get any time off. I saw some of my teacher friends have nice relaxing summers and was upset that I was not able to enjoy the same time. Might as well have a drink, right? I didn’t have to go in to work as early as during the school year so I told myself there was no reason not to have some beers at night. When the school year started the same thing happened as had happened the previous year, but times 10. I was bringing home a lot of the same things as the year before and also had the added stress of having a lot more responsibility with my job as resource counselor. I started off the year going to the gym with a buddy of mine from work and it was awesome. I was less stressed and it felt great. For whatever reason, a month or two into the school year, I stopped going to the gym. I went back to using any excuse to go grab beers. ‘Oh man, it’s a nice fall day outside today! And I didn’t even pack my gym clothes. Oh well, I’ll just call Billy Bob and grab some beers.’ Then it was October and my wife and I travelled for our anniversary to NOLA (they drink there), then it was Halloween (people drink then), then my birthday (yup), then Thanksgiving (family, vacation, football, alcohol), then Christmas (more of the same). I had told myself that there was no point in going to the gym if I was just going to have to stop in two weeks for a trip or holidays. I am good at talking myself out of certain things and into others.

I had started stressing so hard about work that it seemed like it was every Sunday I would sleep terribly because I would be so amped up about what had to happen in the upcoming week I couldn’t fall asleep. When the new year started two things happened…I got back into the gym and I started classes! The gym is the gym…no matter what, it helps. When I gym, I don’t drink. The more the merrier. Classes, on the other hand, do both. They stress me out because its work, but I read my texts at night which puts me to sleep FAST! Haha 🙂  Two birds…reading, check, pass out, check. With the end of the semester coming up I am getting a bit more stressed because I’ve got papers and projects for two classes, but I can see the finish line. That makes me happy. 🙂

Week 8

How does 12-Step facilitation of treatment relate to your personal theory of life? What parts could you integrate if desired?

I have many feelings running through my head about the 12-step process. A lot of this has to do with the fact that I am also going to my AA meeting for my paper this evening so I have been thinking about it all day. I think the other thing that made me a bit hesitant was the whole, ‘Surrendering to God’ piece. Once I read into it a bit more and realized that it was more about surrendering to something greater than ourselves I was a bit more into it. I do not practice religion but I definitely believe that there is a higher power out there somewhere. Initially I was under the impression that a large part of the group was based in religion and I didn’t like that. I am still not quite sure how I feel about all the ‘Him’ and ‘God’ references that are in so many of the steps, but I think that if I remember that it is more about spirituality and not religion I will be good. What about people that do not believe in a higher being? Are they not allowed to go? There are people out there that have serious beliefs that do NOT include a type of God…what about them? Is there a Godless AA somewhere?

How does 12-Step facilitation of treatment relate to your preferred counseling orientation? What parts do you see that you could utilize for treatment?

I am a big believer in groups. I work in a middle school so groups can be pretty difficult to run, however, I still believe they can be very helpful if run properly. Emotions and feelings can be shared in a safe and confidential way. While it is not a group in the sense of an actual counseling or psychoed group, having the support of people is a huge part of the healing process and AA and NA both have those. I bet if you spoke to people who attend these meetings and have been sober for x amount of days/weeks/months/years, they would all say something like, ‘I couldn’t have done it without the other members.’ Getting the support of those surrounding the impacted individual is very important for the success of treatment. AA and NA both provide strong systems of support which makes these meetings very powerful.

Pharmacotherapy

Choose one of the following perspectives and explain your position: “Do you support the use of pharmacotherapy in the treatment of addictions? If so why? If not, why not?”

I think that every client presents a unique set of needs. A lot of individuals might not need pharmacotherapy in order to have a successful treatment while there are other individuals who might really need pharmacotherapy in order to be successful in treatment. Being part of a multidisciplinary team is key with treating clients and as a counselor I would need to rely heavily on the team member or members that would be able to prescribe medication. With serious withdrawal symptoms present, many clients probably return to using because it is easier than living through the withdrawal. With the addition of prescribed medication, the withdrawal symptoms and physiological pain can be greatly reduced which might lead to a more successful treatment. Treatments that include pharmacotherapy can also have a quicker positive impact on the client than if no medication was involved. Psychological interventions aimed at pharmacotherapy adherence improve addiction treatment outcomes (Reid et al., 2005). Do to the increased treatment success, clients can also save money by being able to work when they otherwise would not have been able to.

References

Reid, S., Teeson, M., Sannibale, C., Matsuda, M., & Haber, P. S. (2005). The efficacy of compliance therapy in pharmacotherapy for alcohol dependence: A randomized controlled trial. Journal of Studie on Alcohol, 66, 833-841.

Week Six – Greg Olcott

A quote from your text states: “… we get so involved in the role of counselor that we sometimes forget the client inside us. It can become habit to separate ourselves from our clients with a sense of self-righteousness that we do not have the problems they do.” Do you see this tendency in yourself? How do you stay in contact with your inner client? What does that mean for you?

While I definitely think it is very important to remember that we likely share some similar challenges with our clients, I also think a balance is important. While it is important to realize that we have do share some of the challenges, we certainly don’t want to always think that we do know what they are experiencing. It’s very easy to say something like, ‘Yea, I know what you’re going through and know how you feel,’ when we really do not. When working with my students, I often think back about how I was at their age. I remember the mistakes and the poor decisions I made and try to appropriately help them see some of the alternatives to making those decisions. With the technology around today it is amazing to see what these students are going through. Even for someone who had the Internet, cell phones, texts, and iPods like me, the things available today are mind blowing. This new technology wreaks havoc on students, both in and out of school. About staying in touch with my ‘inner client,’ I always try and keep in mind what I am going through and what I have gone through in the past. Even though I’ve got the big leather chair in an office with degrees on the wall acting as the ‘expert,’ I still learn so much every day, make mistakes, and struggle with some challenges in my own life as well. I always try to keep that in mind when working with students. And teachers and parents as well J

 

What beliefs about yourself do you have that will allow you to find commonalities with your clients so that you do not see it as “us” versus “them”?

I work with adolescents so a lot of the time it can be hard to find commonalities, but at the same time I certainly try to relate to them as much as possible. I believe in my ability to connect with students without a doubt. That helps students because, for many of them, they have no adults in their life who they can trust, feel safe with, and look towards for positivity. I remember what middle school was like – it was hard! These kids are changing so much that they hardly really know who they are themselves. With my students, I am also always trying to make them feel comfortable around me so they feel safe to open up about things. The ‘us versus them’ idea is the last thing I would ever hope my students feel. I try my best to stay up to date with the current music and trends and try and joke, smile, and have as much fun as appropriately possible in a school. When students or clients feel comfortable with you, they are far more likely to open up and be real with you. If you cant find at least a few commonalties with your students or clients, then you will likely struggle. Sometimes you have to dig harder than other times to find these commonalities, but it is certainly worth the effort when you do and can make that connection with who you are working with! 

Week Five

Which of the foundational philosophies of counseling are you most comfortable with and why?

In my work as a school counselor we abide by something that we take seriously: we do not do therapy. There is not enough time to do therapy in a school as the primary reason they are there is to be in class. With all of the other administrative things that school counselors are a part of, therapy is truly not something that can be done in a comprehensive public middle school. One of my friends is a counselor at a non-public alternative school and there are definitely aspects of his job that I envy, one of them being the possibility of being able to actually do something more closely related to therapy in a school setting.

Either way, when working with my students, I try to use strategies from narrative therapy and reality therapy, but the truth is, I am FAR from an expert in either of these fields. I need to learn more. Period. I have found it valuable to help students tell their story. I think using bits and pieces of narrative therapy while working with students to help them try and see/tell their story can be very meaningful. A lot of times kids don’t get the chance to tell their story. Through a student’s narrative and with careful questioning there are times I can get kids to that ‘Ah hah moment.’ That makes me smile.

Reality therapy and choice theory are also applicable in a school setting. I work in a middle school. Middle schoolers LOVE the blame game. Walking into the office I often see students of mine sitting on the couches waiting to see an administrator, or I walk by the security office and see several of my students filling out the green incident reports. I always stop and check in to see whats going on. For the most part, the first thing that comes out of their mouth is always something like, ‘Well, she…,’ or, ‘Mr. Smith kicked me out…,’ or, ‘He always….’ It takes a mature 7th grader to start off with, ‘Well, I was out of my seat, cursing in Spanish, and not following directions so the teacher asked me to leave because I was distracting the class.’ I have yet to meet one of those.    🙂     One of the things I always try to focus on with my students is the need for them to realize their own wrong-doings, accept responsibility, and realize that THEY made the choice to do whatever it was they did to end up down in security of the main office. One of the things I do with my students (once they made it through security and spoke to an administrator) is try and figure out different ways to handle the situation they just went through. If they can make a different choice when presented with the same situation, the likelihood of them getting popped and sent ‘downtown’ decreases. I know a very limited amount about reality therapy and have just learned about it briefly in other courses and would be very interested to learn more. There is a course this summer being offered about it that I am looking into because I feel like it would be very valuable to learn about it in far more depth.

 

What assessments do you think you might use and why?

I like assessments and really enjoyed my assessments class in my masters program. I also ‘enjoyed’ taking the assessments this week. I put enjoyed in quotes because these assessments furthered some concerns that I have been having for some time now. However, I feel I am on the road to a more healthy life by making better choices and living smarter. Back to the question…I would definitely use the AUDIT, CAGE, and MAST. I like those assessments because they are quick and to the point. It doesn’t take three hours to find out the results, so it is definitely cost effective. They are also assessments that are proven to be reliable and valid. I feel like if I was trying to find out about someone’s alcohol use, these three assessments would give me a great amount of information with not a whole lot of time needed. I would be interested in some of the other assessments mentioned in the text as well, but these three would definitely be in my bag of tools when working with clients. 

Going Green

 

I started to post this on the discussion page, but didn’t want to include something that is so far off topic there. With the recent legalization of marijuana out west, I wonder where we are headed as a country with drugs? I have my own opinions on this subject, but I would be interested to hear other people’s opinions on the matter. I would also love to hear/read what Dr. McWay thinks about the topic. Marijuana is clearly less harmful to people than alcohol, so why is it illegal? It is going to be interesting to hear how much money Colorado makes in taxes over the first year of it being legal. Will that sway law-makers to take another look at it? I understand the idea of it being a ‘gateway drug,’ but I imagine that there are millions of people out there who use marijuana and have never used other harder drugs like cocaine or heroin. I would be interested to see some data on this and I imagine it exists somewhere in a journal: Two parts – First, what percentage of hard drugs users began their drug use with marijuana? Second, what percentage of marijuana users only use marijuana? 

I have been enjoying this argument for almost ten years and I love to debate, so I figured I’d throw it out there to see what others’ opinions are. 

Slainte!

How do I consider this substance/behavior pattern a beloved “friend”?

I’m going to be fairly honest with this post and I am always interested in how many people share similar challenges. Alcohol. I just turned 30 a few months ago, and for the first time in the last 13-14 years, I am actively attempting to curb my drinking. Alcohol has been a good friend of mine since I was in 11^th grade. My friends and I binge drank for the last few years in high school and then in college it just increased. Once out of college, I moved to Spain where drinking with lunch is normal. From that point on, it was strange to not drink every day. Alcohol was a friend of mine for years and years. Bored? Grab a beer. Want to relax? Grab a beer. Looking for a nice evening in with the wife? Why not grab a bottle or two of wine. Weekends, forget about it.

How is it sensual (appeals to my senses)?

My problem is that for the last almost half of my life, everything I did had a drink or a beer or a glass of wine in the background. Because of that, it has now become strange to not have that drink there when doing the most routine things. ‘Man, I’ve got to go to the grocery store, go get a pair of shoes, and then get the car washed. Oh well, I’ll just stop a grab a beer or two real quick and catch some sports center on TV.’ A beer turns into two, then I’m grabbing a bite to eat then before I know it, I’ve blown $50 and have had far more than I planned on having. Those are just the typical times. That’s not even including the times when I crave a drink after going through something stressful or taxing. Rough day at work? Stop and pick up a six-pack. Just had to drop $350 on some kind of vet bill? Definitely need a beer or two after that.

How does this substance/behavior pattern provide “healing” or is a “balm” to my emotional wounds?

I am a very social person, so stopping at the local dive bar immediately puts me somewhere that I can strike up conversations with people to get my mind off whatever was on it prior to walking in. To be honest, I don’t like being alone. If my wife has to work later than I do, or has something else going on, I am very easily talked into going and grabbing a beer with a buddy. It is very easy to find someone to go grab a drink or two at any time during the week. It’s sad but true. I am not always necessarily seeking healing or a balm, but sometimes I’d rather go out and grab a beer or two with a buddy than go home by myself and think about the day in silence.

How my addictive substance/behavior pattern is hated – what has it “cost” me?

I cannot even begin to think about how much drinking has cost me. I blame the vast majority of my credit card debt on drinking. My wife and I lived in downtown Bethesda for five years prior to moving to Damascus. There are so many amazing places to go eat and relax and go out in Bethesda that it happened almost nightly. We would come home from work, tired, sometimes not having had gone to the grocery store the previous day, and just say, ‘Screw it, lets go grab a bite.’ That bite would be at Mon Ami Gabi, RiRa, Jaleo, Caddies, American Tap Room, Redwood, etc., and by the end of the night, we’d be full, but one of us would be $100 in the hole. Literally tens of thousands of dollars between the two of us over the course of living there for five years. That’s just the financial cost. Luckily, I have never let my drinking spill over into my work or family life to the point of ‘costing’ me anything.

What might be a good resource or treatment method for a behavior change?

It’s weird. Well, not really that weird. We got a dog, moved to Damascus, and have both made serious efforts to take better care of ourselves. For me there are two possibilities – well, there were two possibilities…I’m working on that – either I went to the gym, or I came home and had a few beers/drinks. When I go to the gym after work, I am able to get a lot of the energy out of my system and decompress after my day at work. I come home; we cook dinner, watch one of the five shows we are always watching, then shower and go to bed. By the time I get home and sit down after eating, its 8:00pm so I don’t feel the need to drink anything at all. It’s awesome. It’s natural. It’s healthy. It’s great. I not only feel better, but I sleep better, I have more energy, and on the weekends I enjoy that beer or drink that much more. I feel like I’ve earned it. I know it’s going to be a journey for a long time fighting the desire to ‘just have a few beers,’ but I have really become enthusiastic with the alternative. I have gotten into a nice groove with a few friends from work with exercising and going to the gym, and it really does feel great NOT having a drink. I used to keep track day by day on a calendar if I drank and/or went to the gym. I got away from that for the last few months, but the first item on my grocery list this week is a 2014 calendar and I am looking forward to getting back to keeping track again so I can get a good idea of how I am doing.

Cheers!

Week Three Blog

What biases do you find in yourself about process addictions?

Overall, I think I have more of a tendency to accept chemical addictions over process addictions because I have never been around an individual, that I am aware of, with a process addiction. That is not to say that I don’t respect or empathize those who are addicted to processes, I just have never been exposed to them. I have seen people who were addicted to substances and have seen the impact of AOD on their lives. Reading the case study of Mike and Carol gave me a brief view of how harmful process addictions can be to people. I have watched plenty of shows on eating disorders, but again, have not experienced them in real life. I think experiences play a large role in the biases we have and I think my lack of experience with people who have process addictions has influenced how I feel. I am sure that it would only take a few minutes working with people who have process addictions to see how much they addictions impact their lives!

Are there some behaviors your more readily accept or reject as being problematic or addicting?

The first thing I tend to ask myself when thinking about whether a behavior is problematic or not is, ‘Is it negatively impacting their life?’ If someone can play four hours of video games a day while engaging in appropriate relationships, staying healthy, and being successful at their job, then I would not think of it as problematic. That said, if someone is playing four hours of video games a day, is not taking care of themselves physically, is withdrawn from their family and friends, has been laid off from work due to behaviors from the playing, then I would say the behavior is definitely problematic. What some people are able to do as far as gaming, gambling, eating, and shopping, others may simply not able to. With AOD on the other hand, due to the varying problems that come with them and the illegality of many of them, come a whole other array of beliefs. Many drugs are illegal, so I wont comment on those, but if someone can have a couple beers or glasses of wine a night, remain in good health, be successful in work and relationships, then so be it. Some can, some can’t. 

What shapes your views of these processes?

My views come from my experiences. Being that we all go through many different experiences, we are all going to have slightly different views. I played a good amount of video games in college as did a lot of my friends. We all made it through and are successful in life now. If I had known someone who played so many video games in college that they failed out of college, moved home, and live in his parents’ basement, then I would probably have a different view on the addictiveness of video games. My views are absolutely going to change with my experiences in life, so if I was asked these questions 10 years ago, or 10 years from now, my views would be different. Learning about what happens in the brains of individuals who are addicted to chemicals or processes has already opened my eyes as to the impacts addictions can have.

Are you more likely to call something an addiction if you are uncomfortable with the behavior or view it as undesirable or unhealthy?

I think so. Certainly if it is unhealthy! I can’t imagine calling something an addiction if it was healthy. I mean, there are certainly people who are addicted to exercise and might defend it because they consider it healthy. However, while not familiar with the research, I am pretty sure there are some serious negative effects of exercising too much. Can you technically be ‘addicted’ to something that is healthy? If so, I am addicted to smiling, laughing and having fun…and wrestling with my dog.

How might your own beliefs, morality, or spiritual beliefs shape your views of your client’s problems?

Again, I think this comes back to our own experiences. As individuals who work in mental health, we are all educated on how to respect and empathize with our clients/students/patients. While we might not always agree with their beliefs, we have to be able to respect where they come from, the experiences they have had, and work on helping them. If we are not able to work with our clients for whatever reason, then ethically we must make a referral elsewhere. As far as spirituality goes, while I am confident that I could work with people with strong religious beliefs, if it was clear that they were seeking some sort of religious counsel, I would have to make a referral elsewhere.