What I Think About Therapy Has Impacted Me

There are many factors such as biology, environment and development that results in the persons initial introduction into the world of drugs. Drug abuse may start as a way to socially connect. More often than not people try drugs for the first time in social

To begin, there are many reasons that could cause a child to become involved in these types of activities or addictions. One of the top reasons is from being truent at school. Truency has shown, from research, a large influence for drug or alcohol use. Those who skip school, not all of the students, are more likely to use drugs in some way. What causes this is the lack of supervision and

All around the world anyone can find people that are addicted to some form of drug. Drug addiction is a huge issue that has been occurring for about thirty years now and is occurring to this day for many reasons. Some of those reasons may be that something is going on back home and they have had enough, or because of stress, peer pressure, biological reasons and the list goes on. However, there has been law enforcement due to drugs since the mid 1980’s. People have many viewpoints to when it comes to drug use and addiction. There are three perspectives people have that view the use of drugs and drug addiction which are structural functionalism, conflict, and symbolic interactionist.

My relationship with drugs first began during my senior year of high school. While most of my peers attended their first parties years earlier, my first was not until I was already 17 years old. I still remember feeling so cool for attending my first party and having my first sip of alcohol. The feeling of being drunk was unlike anything I had ever felt before. I felt liberated, like I could break out of my quiet shell and be that fun, goofy person that everyone wanted to hang out with. Prior to this night I had never used any type of substance, legal or illegal. Since then I have continued using alcohol while also trying various different types of drugs including caffeine, marijuana, tobacco, and adderall.

a. In therapy Jane learned that Recovery isn’t going to happen all at once. With that she understands that there will ups and down in her recovery but she know that as long as she stays strong she can stay on the path of recovery

Based on what was learned during lectures there are varieties of different ways an individual can become addicted. Certain personality traits are more likely to abuse drugs such as individuals who are risk takers, have low self-esteem, or stressed. Mental health also plays a big role. Those individuals who suffer from anxiety, depression, antisocial, or personality traits are more likely to become an addict. According to the Intergenerational theory, children who have parents that are addicted to drugs or whose parents have been incarcerated due to drug charges; are more likely to follow in the footsteps of the parents. Although there is not a direct line or an “addictive gene”, the possibility is much higher. Another theory that shows a direct line to drug addiction is the Reinforcement Theory. This theory is based on repeating behaviors that the individual interprets as a “reward”. Once the individual feels that “reward”, they continue to repeat the behavior in order to feel that way again. Eventually the individual will need more and more drugs to achieve that high, which leads to addiction. According to the film, Eugene stated that individuals find variety of different ways to support their habits. One of those ways is through property crime. During lectures, it was said that property crime increases during the periods of active or heavier drug use. This is called Intensification Theory; drug use accelerates criminal behavior but

In society, drugs have been the downfall for many people. There are many reasons that a person may use drugs such as: peer pressure, relief of stress, increased energy, to relax, to relieve pain, to escape reality, to feel more self esteem, and for recreation ("Drug addiction and drug abuse," 2011). What is it that causes the obsession and compulsion to use drugs? Why can some people stop and others go on to become addicts? Addiction is often now defined by the continuing, compulsive nature of the drug use despite physical and/or psychological harm to the user and society ("Drug addiction and drug abuse," 2011).

I can speak of the causes of being raised by an addicted parent because I was a victim and to some extent, I still am a victim. I grew up to be a relatively healthy adult. I never used drugs, never smoked a cigarette and was a decent student. I did however become pregnant at the age of 17 but handled it very maturely. For the most part I was able to reflect

After the ethical examination of both therapeutic and enhancement gene modification, it can be stated that therapeutic gene modification is a good thing and enhancement gene modification can be a bad thing. But the other issue is where do you draw the line between the two gene modifications. On paper it might seem like a clear cut distinction but take the example of children who use human growth hormone. Assume a child has a medical condition and their treatment stunts their growth, so they are prescribed human growth hormone. The human growth hormone is able to help the child grow to his normal hight thus returning him to the baseline. But now that there is a doctor prescribing human growth hormone, and different parent hear about this treatment

Since “parents are a crucial part of their child’s environment” (Sharma, 2016), it is no surprise that their behavior can affect how their children grow up to be. While yes, people who end up addicted to drugs can come from all sorts of lives there are some circumstances that may help to influence a person’s choice to turn to drugs. The likelihood that a person turns to drugs increases if they experience a traumatic event such as sexual, emotional, or physical abuse (Mirlashari, Demirkol, Salsali, Rafiey, & Jahanbani, 2012). Depending on the level of trauma can influence the level of drug addiction a person may have. If a person witnesses’ violence in their family or they are sexually victimized they are more likely to not only use drugs but to turn to hard drugs like

I would not conduct the child custody evaluation for him because this would be a dual role or multiple relationship. Since I have already been counseling this client, and already have a relationship and opinion (that he is a good person who loves his kids) with him, this may make it hard to remain objective if I were to conduct the child custody evaluation. Also, there are two sides to every story, thus even though the client seems nice and loving while in therapy, that may not be the case outside of therapy. Also, entering into a multiple relationship is against the American Psychological Association (APA) (2010) Ethical Principles. Ethical code 3.05 states that therapists should avoid multiple relationships because being in one can impair their competence, effectiveness, objectivity and can put the client at risk for harm or exploitation. The APA ethical principle of avoiding harm also applies to this scenario (APA, 2010). If I was to do the custody evaluation for my client, and find that he should not have custody, this would ruin our therapeutic alliance and greatly harm the client. Although some therapists may belief that they would be competent and objective enough to conduct the child custody evaluation for their current client, they should stay on the side of caution, not take the risk and refer the client to a different professional who is competent in these evaluations.

When choosing the therapy modality for this family, symbolic-experiential therapy seemed to fit. I compare this family’s situation to Carl Whitaker’s reference his work as, “therapy of the absurd.” People who engage in any type of prejudices, biases or any discriminatory acts are not properly informed and it is absurd to me. I had my reservations about the techniques that Carl Whitaker displayed when I was first exposed to his videos but having gone back over the literature and adapting some of the styles, the therapy techniques for this family situation seem to fit well. The issues surrounding this family are complex, same-sex marriage (sexual prejudice) and require a straightforward approach for getting to the heart of the issues. Symbolic-experiential therapy is not based on any one type of theory instead, it is the therapists who is the main catalyst for helping the family understand the worldviews of its members and, therefore, establish a better relationship within the system. Each member takes part in greater self-discovery, which in turn, leads to a better understanding of how the positives out weigh the negatives in allowing the family unit to work better. Symbolic therapy relies heavily on emotional logic rather than cognitive logic, which in most cases of sexual prejudice, is the premise behind the prejudgment. Through the use of this, there is more room for flexibility when discussing issues and

     I found chapter thirteen to be very interesting. Learning about the different types of therapy was very helpful. I chose to write about

In addition to trauma being a risk factor for adolescent drug misuse, poverty also plays a major role in making youth susceptible to addiction. Youth that live in poverty may rely on substances to cope with the environment they live in.

The real key to stopping addiction and abusive behavior in our coming generations is prevention. If we can work together in society to better educate the actual physical effects that drugs have on an individual and step away from the typical drugs are bad we might be able to educate enough youth to make them not want to except drugs even for that first time before you realize that that’s all you needed to lose control. Life is a choice however some choices come with irrevocable consequences and drug abuse and addiction is truly one of these choices. The question you can ask yourself is where will you fall in this choice? It can be the best decision you make in your life or the worst.