tell me why this person would not be a good substance abuse counselor?

Question

Currently employed as a substance abuse counselor.
b. Recovering addict with 18 years of sobriety.
c. States that he is under a lot of stress at home and concerning financial obligations.
d. Has a good work record except for periods of repeated absence from work and periods of depression.
e. Has stated recently to co-workers that he is not sure he can relate to client’s addiction issues as well as he has in the past.
f. Staff concern and suspicion that he may have suffered a relapse or is contemplating drug use.
g. The agency has an Employee Assistance Program and Policy

Answer 1

Hmm

C is a possible issue if his stress levels are high - suggest he perhaps has some issues of his own to address before trying to work with clients. Possibility of his own stuff interfering with his ability to focus only on the clients issues.

Repeated absence is NOT a good work record - especially if a counsellor where there are boundaries such as time keeping. Someone who lets the client down as "par for the course" is not suitable for the role of counselor.

Depression may or may not be an issue. Many counsellors live with depression - as do folks from all walks of life. If they have effective and appropriate coping mechanisms it need not prevent them from doing excellent work.

"e" is also an obvious biggy. A counsellor that cannot relate to a clients issues, is unlikely to be able to empathise with them either.

"f" is a hard one. If the concern is well founded, then it would seem prudent to be wary and also supportive of the person concerned. If however there is no susbtance to the suspicion, then it would seem unfair to hold this against them.

g - irrelevant on the face of it.

Answer 2

If the agency has an EAP he should avail himself of their services. Maybe he needs to be on an antidepressant. A lot of substance abusers begin abusing drugs because they have a problem that they are trying to self-medicate. For instance, drug abuse is much more prevalent in people with bipolar disorder than it is in the general public. So, someone needs to sit down with him an encourage him to get help.

A person who has been (but is no longer) addicted to a substance often makes a much better counselor than those who haven't. They have more empathy and also understand how the mind of an addict works. It would be a shame to lose a good counselor without first trying to get to the root of the problem.

Answer 3

Compare this person to a medical doctor. As a doctor's career progresses he may fail at his profession because the old treatments and procedures do not work as they once did. Newer generations have oftentimes had difficulty in accepting old medicines or old ways of treatments. So what does the doctor have to do to successfully treat the maladies of a newer generation..HE HAS TO GO BACK AND SCHOOL and LEARN NEW TECHNIQUES and USE NEW MEDICINES in order to treat the patients of today. This doctor (let's not forget) is quite human and thus susceptible to all the same ills that befall his patients. If he needs help? Help him to get it by ALL means possible! Get him/her help...it is worth it, why? Because "Experience Is The Great Teacher". Who better can help a "Recovering Addict... than a former addict?

Answer 4

There is nothing there to indicate that he would not be good. Sounds like he would be excellent...especially because of #E. He truly cares about his clients or else he would not be so honest. Perhaps he's suffering from depression which would cause the self doubt. No one is perfect or exempt from difficult times. Work burnout happens to everyone. Times like this only makes a person a stronger in the end.

Answer 5

It does sound like he has possibly had a relapse, or is clinically depressed, since the agency has an employee assistance program, he should take advantage of that, before it gets critical, and he winds up losing his job or something.....

Answer 6

Sounds like my ex-boyfriend....He only wanted the counseling position to cover up the fact that he was actually abusing the methadone they supplied him with.