Explanation Of The Abstention Project: Personal Experience

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

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 program is conducted around shared experiences, strength and hope, through individuals who are recovering from their addictions.

The experience is humbling, and I appreciate community groups that provide this type of support for members with substance use issues, as I see this as strength-based. I felt a strong sense of bonding and great empathy towards one another. A Counter transference existed when the facilitators emotional and relapse experiences influenced an assertive reaction to strongly encourage NA attendance on members that decide to quit. The facilitator reported that quitting NA group, because he "felt better," led him to relapse, therefore, he wants to prevent others from making the same mistake.

In the United States, many Americans can argue that we are facing a drug epidemic whether it is alcohol or illicit drugs other than medicinal marijuana. In response to this drug epidemic, organizations were created that are supported by the government and law enforcement in an effort to give addicts a chance to get clean. For example, Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotic Anonymous are two organizations that focus on helping people who struggle from alcoholism or any addiction cope with the symptoms of withdrawal in efforts to stay clean with the support of their organization’s community. Although these two organization’s goals are similar, they attack these problems differently beginning with step one out of their twelve step program to help addicts get clean.

My feelings addiction prior to attending these meetings and taking this course were that people were addicts because they chose to be. I always looked at alcohol addiction as a choice rather than the disease that it really is. I think because of my view on addiction, it caused me to lack sympathy when it came to this particular population. After attending just these two meetings and hearing so many stories about alcoholics recovering from their disease, it definitely made me more empathetic because I now realize addiction is something that these people can’t control.

I am currently interning at Volunteers of America Los Angeles (VOALA), and the program that I am placed in is a Harm Reduction program. I work with homeless veterans who are diagnosed with a mental and substance abuse disorder. For the past couple of months, I have seen the positive effects of Harm Reduction, and how safe it is with our clients. For this assignment, I specifically chose a conversation with Rusty Foster and Luis Lopez on Harm Reduction, because this is what I am interested in. As a recovering alcoholic myself, I want to work and help clients who are struggling with drug and alcohol addiction. I believe that addiction is hard to overcome, but Harm Reduction can be cost effective, educational, and a healthier way of using drugs and alcohol. While listening to this conversation, I immediately thought of my internship, and what I already know, and what I could learn.

In order to successfully decrease the cases of drug addiction, society needs to remember that we cannot change the physiological effects of drugs, but we can prevent individuals from turning into them. In other words, the primary focus should be on the individual and not the drug.

I had the privilege of talk to Diana W. Bear of the Inter-Tribal Substance Abuse/Prevention & Treatment Center. She is a Counselor at the facilities at Miami, Oklahoma. She confided in me why she pursued a career in substance and alcohol prevention as a second career in her life. She also had family member that difficultly with addictions and wanted to know more about addiction. With her desire to learn and overwhelming desire to want to help others to overcome it. She started by enrolling in some online class and finished up with attending Pittsburg State University for part of her college career. She started out as doing her practicum at the same facilities as she later got a job; she has been a counselor with Inter-Tribal Substance Abuse/Prevention & Treatment Center for now ten years.

This experience has changed the way I see those who haven’t had enough and those who haven’t found away out of the addicted world. I’ve learned there is more to a person than their appearance and in these cases there is a lot of hurt and anger in their souls. Even after recovery some people still carry around guilt and anger. Some are ashamed because they let something affect them in a way in which they lost control. Others are angry at

So how does an addicted individual escape addiction? Miller (1998) argues that there can be a sudden shift in how the person perceives the pros and cons of their behavior. This is often seen over time as the suffering directly attached to the addiction increases and the ratio of pros and cons shifts. Through motivational interviewing, Miller suggests that therapists and other helping professionals can lend clients another perspective, a mirror image of themselves, so as to increase the client's conception of the consequences and saliency of their

Objective 2: Project Complete Abandonment is designed to meet people suffering from addiction and alcoholism on their level to gain trust through transparency. By providing a loving environment that is tolerant of shortcoming and gaffes; this in return dissipates people’s self-doubt and enhances their buoyancy in their capabilities, primarily assisting them with establishing a healthy sense of worth reaching the fullness of their potential.

On Saturday, March 12, 2016 at Windmoor, I talked with a patient that had an addiction to alcohol. The patient stated that she drink alcohol to relieve stress, it was a stress reliever and help her deal with life problem she couldn’t handle. The patient stated she was very dependent on alcohol, and realize it started to affect her personal life and work life. She didn’t want to lose everything she worked so hard for, so that’s when she decide she will not no longer let alcohol control her life any more, and take control. At Windmoor she stated attending the group session at Windmoor helps her a lot and she apply everything she learn into her daily life to make it a routine.

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

When I began this class I had a very specific experience and understanding of addictions. One of the major influencers in my view of addictions has been my mother. This is something I never fully processed until I began really learning about addictions and what they do to people. I had impressions of addiction which were completely off base, and I had never taken the time to filter my prejudices through the reality of addictive disorders. Nevertheless, this project and this class has had a wonderful effect on my perception of those struggling with addictions.