Outlook On Chemical Dependency Interview

For Mrs. Hewes the Introduction to Social Work class we were asked to interview a licensed Social Worker and write an experience paper about the interview. Finding a social worker to interview wasn’t very hard for me because many of my mother’s friends got their masters in social work, but not many of them actually got their license except for one of them. The licensed social worker that I interviewed goes by the name of Tanya Hill. Tanya got her Masters of Social Work at Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida in 2000, as well as her license and she now resides in Panama City, Florida. Tanya is someone that I have known since I was a little girl and someone that I definitely aspire to be like once I graduate. My interview with Tanya was over the phone since I did not have time to drive back to Florida to do a face to face one, but while we were on the phone every answer she gave me to the questions I asked were quite interesting.

On September 21, 2015, I met with Ms. Katie, a student in the MSW program at NCSU, to conduct an interview. We met at Starbucks in Cary, in the crossroads shopping center. Ms. Katie’s responses helped me learn and think about social workers in the child welfare social field. As a prospective social worker, my questions were formed based thoughts that I was concerned about my responsibilities in the social work field..

For this assignment, I decided to interview my aunt because she has been a social worker for about thirty years, and has a lot of experience. She attended Dominican college in Orangeburg, New York where she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Psychology. She then went to graduate school at Montclair State in New Jersey where she received her master’s in psychology. After this, she decided to go back to school for her MSW, which she received from SUNY Albany. Since she graduated, the only profession she has worked in is social work, and she is now a licensed clinical social worker. She loves what she does and is glad that she made the decision to become a social worker.

When it came to the interview, I decided to ask Sophia questions about what it was like to be in social work practice. Some of the questions I posed were: What are the challenges and rewards of social work, what do you feel to be major successes in your fieldwork and how did you achieve these, what would you define as the primary purpose of social work practice, do you have a most memorable case you have worked on, what would you change about the system and why, and is there any advice you have for someone just starting out in a social work career?

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 June 2014, I registered with the North Carolina Substance Abuse Professional Practice Board for certification as a Certified Substance Abuse Counselor, and began private supervision. I passed the state examination the following year. Through discussions with my colleagues and professional supervisor, as well as interactions with university professors, I developed a desire to provide advanced counseling through social work practice. I believe social work provides the best means to provide healing for the whole person in their environment.

McNeece, C. A., & DiNitto, D. M. (2012). Chemical dependency: A systems approach (4th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.

The past couple semesters we have focused on theories, techniques, role-plays, etc. However, I think learning more about the human services profession as a whole is extremely beneficial. For this assignment, I conducted an interview with a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker (LICSW) named Joshua Feinberg at Chestnut Ridge Hospital. Joshua has been working as a social worker for four years. He enjoys the counseling aspect more than anything as being a social worker. At Chestnut Ridge Hospital, LICSW are technically called a “Clinical Therapist”. They are called clinical therapists because they mostly do counseling at this facility. During the course of the interview, the questions focused on the professional roles, positives, negatives,

Interview paper with a Counselor (Rebecca Alexander), and a Social Worker (Mina McVeigh). This interview is for Mrs. Scott’s online class.

Regardless, it was so inspiring when I did hear some good reports, and I noticed how eager those former clients were to share about what was working for them. In fact, at times it was hard to tell who was more excited about their success, me or the former client. It is sobering to know that this is how working in this field is likely to pan out. What I mean by saying this, is that I must get used to the possibility that most of the clients who pass through whatever facility I am at, are more likely not to succeed (succeed per the agency’s follow-up requirements), than to succeed, and I must not take the client’s shortcomings as a personal failure of sorts. For this reason, I now realize that this is one of the reasons that I hate this disease with such passion, and want to work in my community to improve these statistics, and remove the stigma that has been attached to Substance Use Disorders for far too long.

During the mock social work interview process I have discovered a lot of interesting facts about the process, myself, and the differences between how the interviewer and the interviewee experience the interview. The opportunity was unexpectedly very informative and has shown me how I want to grow as an interviewer for my clients as well as myself.

On Wednesday, September 20, 2017, at approximately 3:15pm, I interviewed Julia Dressler, a peer in my Social Work Interviewing class. The purpose of the interview was to become comfortable being recorded, increase my experience using the interviewing skills learned in class, and to be able to analyze my strengths and weaknesses, leading to a greater learning opportunity. Julia and I met in study room 308 in the George R. White Library at Concordia University in Portland. The study room was a quiet place and we had no interruptions.

Many social stigmas are associated with drug use within our society. At one point in my life I shared the negative connotations associated to drug abuse with the vast majority of the population of this country and the society in which I live. As I matured and began forming my own opinions based on several personal experiences, I began to disagree with the believed norm that drugs are bad for our society. They are a means of escape for some just the same as alcohol and tobacco is for millions of others in this country. Those legal substances are just as bad for your body and habit forming as other illegal substances. Why do so many people frown on those of us who need our help? Drug addiction is a disease yet it’s

When working with Florence, I will use a strengths approach, which will focus on Florence’s strengths. I need to have the belief that everyone has strengths. I will need to find strengths in Florence and help her discover those strengths, so she can find more effective ways of parenting and be able to regain custody of her daughter. I will have the belief that everyone has worth, no matter what they have done. I also need to believe that people have the capacity to change. I will focus on Florence’s abilities and assets, not her problems. It is important that social workers do not judge their clients, no matter what they do, or have done. It will be important that I not judge Florence for abusing her daughter. I will be an enabler, and supportive, and not tell Florence what she should do. She said that the police were very kind to her the night that Dave died, and it sounded like she appreciated their kindness. I will need to show her kindness and respect as well. That will help foster a trusting relationship between us. I will need to be her advocate as I work with other agencies, especially when working with the child welfare agency to do all I can to help her regain custody of Crystal. I will need to start where Florence is, recognizing that she is the expert of her life. I need to listen carefully during our first interview, and allow Florence to tell me as much about herself as possible, so I can get the best overall picture of her.

Numerous individuals do not comprehend why individuals get to be dependent on drugs or how drugs can change the mind to cultivate enthusiastic drug abuse. They erroneously view drug misuse and dependence as entirely a social issue and may describe the individuals who take drugs as ethically powerless (Alving, Matyas, Torres, Jalah, & Beck, 2014). One extremely regular belief is that drugs abusers ought to have the capacity to stop taking drugs if they are willing to change their conduct and be a member of society (Alvin et al., 2014). What individuals frequently underestimate is the intricacy of drug dependence that this is