What Does It Mean?

I’ve come to the conclusion that my decisions affect the road I continue to go down, I realize that it’s not about me being above drinking because they have an age limit for a reason. This lesson has truly taken a toll on how I will reason with myself and friends when about to make a bad decision.

The third chapter of the Alcoholics Anonymous book develops the idea of what alcoholism involves and how people with alcoholism differ from normal people. This chapter elaborates on the idea that there is no such thing as making a normal drinker out of an alcoholic, meaning an alcoholic will never be able to have a few drinks and then stop. It is also believed within the alcoholics’ anonymous community that at in the early stages of their drinking careers, they could have stopped drinking. The first step in recovery is to acknowledge that there is a problem, the book describes different ways a person can be an alcoholic. Not every alcoholic is going to drink a long time nor take large quantities, but the inability to stop makes the alcoholic. The chapter explains how an alcoholic is still unable to stop on the basis of self-knowledge and will power. In order to protect against taking that first drink again, there must be a higher power. Chapter three outlines that there is more than one option of what

This clinician would recommend that Jared get enrolled into an outpatient program for his depression and his alcoholism. Jared just completed an inpatient treatment facility and he needs more stabilization to build upon his sobriety. This clinician would also recommend that Jared attend Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meetings to reinforce the outpatient treatment. The AA meetings will reinforce the church activity that Jared is already attending, as AA is a spiritual program and welcomes everyone regardless of their sexual orientation, religions or lack of religions, or their ethnicity.

In the stage, Precontemplation, people with a problem cannot see it. They have no way of understanding the need of change and continue to use. Contemplation is the next step and now the client can recognize there is a problem and entertains the thought, but nothing more. When a person is in denial, it is critical for the therapist to convince the client in denial to go from Precontemplation (no problem) to contemplation (recognizing a problem). In order to get Tonya to move to the next stage, the therapist clarifies the house hold problems occurring that are a byproduct of her drinking. Once the problem has been clarified, the therapist makes an initial recommendation for action based on her assessment. In this case, the therapist suggests that Tonya participates in three Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.) classes in the next week. The therapist then strengthens the thought of action with a very simple, but affective question, “What would it hurt?” This simple question creates a deep thought for Tonya’s purpose for therapy. Tonya’s willingness to participate in a program that will help moves her towards the direction of the Determination/Preparation stage for quitting. They have made the decision and now Tonya needs further guidance in supporting the decision. The next stage is action and the client in denial has not yet reached this step but prior to her next meeting

As a counselor to Alan I would used the following 5 assessments. I would use either Beck Depression Inventory or/both Hamilton Depression Inventory to look at the client’s depression. Alan admits to “being mildly depressed but insists, its not something I cant handle”. I think I would used the depression inventory to see where he would fall on the scale of his depression and then see how we can work with Alan. Though the client is well aware of the amount of alcohol or drug he uses. I would still apply both the Alcohol Use Inventory and the Substance Abuse subtle screening inventory. I think once we can show Alan how much alcohol and marijuana is affecting his life and how it will continue to affects his life. After we assess both his depression

Alcoholism is considered a major health issue by many resources. It is seen as an illness by the American Medical Association and the British Medical Association. Alcoholics are unable to control their drinking habits because they are ill within their minds and bodies. Within the United States, it is recognized as the third greatest substance use killer, following heart disease and cancer as noted by various sources. It not only hurts substance users, but can have significant effects on their families and their jobs. There is a multitude of knowledge on how to identify and arrest alcoholism, but there is no known prevention for it. Therefore, Alcohol Anonymous (A.A) was developed to help sufferers of alcohol abstain from drinking and learn positive ways to live life without the use of alcohol. Each individual is different; therefore, not all will have the same symptoms. Some symptoms include but are not limited to drinking at school or at work, sneaking drinks, drinking early in the mornings and over drinking at events. The goal of A.A at Another Chance is to encourage their members to avoid drinking or causes that can lead to drinking, which is by taking one day at a time. As mentioned, for members to stay sober they need to maintain healthy thoughts and emotions, of which they can attain by following the twelve steps to recovery.

The first stage of recovery is preconteplation. Precontemplation is the stage where an individual who may be struggling with an addiction is not even considering make any type of behavioral change (Prochaska and DiClemente, 1982). During this stage it is not uncommon for individuals to deny there is an issue despite

There are many early stage alcoholics who are not ready to stop drinking altogether, but

Another try: I reflect on my questions and say something like: John, what do you suppose would be the consequences of your continued substance abuse? How willing are you to make changes to move in another direction?

Alcoholism has become a widespread concern in our society, with one third of Americans becoming dependent on the drug at some point in their lifetime (Read, 2010). According to a 2010 survey of Americans aged twelve or older, over 51.8 percent reported being current drinkers of alcohol, an estimated 131.3 million people (U.S. Department of Health and human Services (HHS), 2010). Nearly one quarter of persons aged twelve or older participated in binge drinking at least once in the thirty days prior to the 2010 survey, translating to nearly 58.6 million people. In 2010, heavy drinking was reported by 6.7 percent of the population aged twelve or older, equaling roughly 16.9 million people. Results from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions indicate that four percent of the population at a given time is dependent on alcohol; however, most never seek treatment (Read, 2010) (Hasin, Stinson, Ogburn, & Grant, 2007). In 2009, two million people over the age of twelve received treatment for an alcohol related problem. Of those who reached out for assistance, only twenty-five percent remained abstinent for the first year following treatment completion (Hasin et al., 2007).

Responsibility – emphasise that the decision to change drinking patterns or to continue drinking at the same level is the choice of the person alone. Acknowledgement of personal responsibility has been identified as a key factor in motivating behaviour change. Emphasis on personal RESPONSIBILITY for change Brief interventions has also commonly advised patients that their drinking is their own responsibility and choice. An implicit or explicit message is that "No one can make you change, or decide for you. What you do about your drinking is up to you." Perceived personal control has been recognized as an element of motivation for behaviour change and maintenance (Deci, 1975; Miller,

When I first met my client, she was in the contemplation stage evidenced by her exploration of her ambivalence and conflicts of her substance use. She has gone backwards to the precontemplations stage as she wanted to leave the program and go back to prison in a fit of anger. However, being in the inpatient treatment program is somewhat forced to be in the preparation stage by her participation in individual sessions, participating in groups, and attending Narcotics Anonymous (NA) outside of the facility. Like most clients’ change, my client’s readiness to change is in a spiral pattern not a linear progression through the stages.

I was one of the first to turn eighteen in my grade and deciding whether to drink or not was a decision I had not made yet. Everyone around me was expecting that I would. Little did they know that I had grown up with two alcoholic parents and getting drunk wasn’t exactly an ideal situation for me.

Initially, the alcoholic may demonstrate a high tolerance to alcohol, consuming more and showing less adverse effects than others. Subsequently, however, the person begins to drink against his or her own best interests, as alcohol comes to assume more importance than personal relationships, work, reputation, or even physical health. The person commonly loses control over drinking and is increasingly unable to predict how much alcohol will be consumed on a given occasion or, if the person is currently abstaining, when the drinking will resume again. Physical addiction to the drug may occur, sometimes eventually leading to drinking around the clock to avoid withdrawal symptoms.

Before one can begin the process of remaining abstinent from alcohol, the individual must first accept that there is a problem stemming from drinking alcohol. Admitting that there is something wrong about consuming too much alcohol, enables the individual to take action. Although the alcohol abusers peers may highlight the problem to the user as well, he or she is more likely to commit to quitting if the problem is acknowledged by the individual. First, the alcohol users assess his or her situation regarding alcohol abuse. Next, the individual will need to take steps to ensure his or her peers are aware and supportive of the situation. If the users, peers all abuse alcohol it may be difficult or embarrassing to acknowledge your plan to change. Now that the alcohol user has acknowledged the substance abuse problem, it’s