I thought I share my time as a Substance Abuse Counselor and what it meant for me. For obvious reasons I will not share where I worked or the names of the people I helped for HIPPA and confidentially reasons. I guess we can start with the fact I didn’t go to school for this profession, my degree is in Criminal Justice, A.S and Public Safety Administration, B.A.S. But I have worked in fields where the skills I learned helped me a great deal here. As a Juvenile Detention Officer/ Child Protective Investigator/ Qualified Intellectual Disability Professional I Learned to work with adults and children that had mental health disorders, substance abuse, behavioral issues, and trauma. To work in these fields it took a level of empathy, honesty, integrity, among other skills an abilities. I started with letting the clients (what the people seeking help at the facility are called) know who I was, what was about, that I am chill to work with, but I follow the rules. I was honest about this being my first time working in this capacity with people that were addicted to controlled substances when they asked (I think the truthfulness concerned them but also reassured them in the same token), I got to know everyone in the room, then asked them what they didn’t like to do in groups (to see if I can make some adjustments, because they do and should have a say in their treatment), and what they wanted to do more of while they are in treatment (I passed that information to my supervisor).
I will be honest I wasn’t the best counselor, and I was only familiar with some of the techniques used in this field (like motivational interviewing and cognitive behavior therapy), but I think the clients appreciated my unorthodox approached. An example is during my individual sessions I didn’t force or pressure clients to talk to me about their trauma or substance abuse, I would only inquire if they brought it up, but we mostly talked about things they liked an cared about, how they were doing in treatment, if they were having any barriers, and we would work out solutions together. I also would involve other counselors that were more experienced and get advice from them especially if something came up that they could help with. I didn’t shy away from borrowing ideas from other counselors, using, books, video, and articles, and sometimes would even have activities as well.
Below I will share various tools I used in groups with the clients as well as my caseload or process group an dive into the method behind why I focused on it. The very first group I did with the clients, was an outdoor activity (because that was one of their main complaints was always being inside in that small room and they wanted fresh air). I had a list of numbered words and below that their respective definitions, I had them passed out, while in a circle I would call the number have them come to the center, have one read the word and the other read the definition, then they had to pick sister or self (I worked with female clients), if they didn’t pick quick enough I would say both and they would have to say something about themselves and the other person using that word. After the activity was done with each person everyone would clap or stomp their feet. Then I would ask the clients why do they think we did this activity, then I would tell them why I created this it. My goal was to focus on building their self esteem up, coming out of their shell, an interacting with people they normally don’t, an building up others as well. I would agree that when someone starts using drugs their self esteem is lowered, because their appearance changes, the way people views them change, and the way people treat them changes, usually not for the better. So I thought this exercise will build confidence and unity. Months later we played a game called Cards Against Humanity (Family Edition I wasn’t trying to have no problems LoL), it taught them to work as a team, collaborate, and just have fun (we need that sometimes), there was an incident that happened that caused all the clients to have heighten anxiety an in return most of them were crisis building, I would agree me switching it up this day really eased tensions and got people laughing (also the internet was down an I couldn’t do what I originally planned LoL).
For my first caseload (called process group, a smaller group of people that are only on your caseload) I decided to use the help of one of my favorite websites called PsychCentral, I provided an article titled “5 Ways Childhood Neglect and Trauma Skews Our Self-Esteem” by Darius Cikanavicius a certified mental health coach. I had the clients read it and comment on it, then I provided context as to why I selected it, this was to continue what I already started with the building self esteem I wanted them to learn when their self esteem first was broken an how that happened so they can make the connection as to how they got to this low self esteem state it usually starts young. Even though though there was some articles I would use in the smaller groups I eventually incorporate it into the bigger group because I would agree the information was too vital to not share. The next article I used in my Caseload group (Process group) was another article from PsychCentral titled “10 Exercises to Heal Your Inner Child” Medically reviewed by Joslyn Jelinek, LCSW (mental health social worker) — By Traci Pedersen (a psychology, science, and health author) and Jamie Smith (Doctorate of Psychology) the clients read it an discussed it, then I pointed out why we did the article, this was a continuation of the self esteem, and trying to heal from that damage. my favorite part of the article was about the importance of play for adults and encouraging them to do all the things they loved to do as a child even if they feel like they are too old to it, I would agree that this is important because so many get into this cycle of work, sleep, clean and stop keeping themselves happy at the detriment of their own mental health. I assigned homework in which the clients had to write a letter to their inner child (basically what would they tell their younger self’s now they are adults and have survived all these experiences in their life, an what advice would they give them).
I did multiple groups that were evidence based practices, Substance abuse and relapse was suppose to be my main focus, but I kinda did what ever that related to what was going on in the women’s unit, or that time of year, but I still would incorporate it in some way (so when I mention “group” I am referring to all 50ish female clients and in the “caseload group” that would be the 10 or 15). After Christmas and New years I knew that these would be some of the hardest days for the clients because many had lost custody of their kids, or couldn’t see them for other reasons, their family was done with them, or they just didn’t have anyone. That is when I decided to do an article from another great website Psychology today titled “Coping With a Post-Holiday Letdown” by Stephanie A. Sarkis Ph.D. a Clinical Specialist in Child and Adolescent Counseling. This article cause alot of people to be emotional in a good way, people were able to connect with each other and the problems they were dealing and provide advice on how to get through it using some of the things we learned in the article as well as from their own experiences. For homework I had the clients do what the end of the article says make a list of things they look forward to doing once they complete treatment at the substance abuse facility. (I would like to agree that it gave some of them hope and something to aspire to while in treatment as they took things one day at a time no matter how hard it was for them)
I had an issue that was taking place in the women’s unit in which that some clients were bullying others, but when counselors would inquire the victims would never say who it was and of course others would not want to say anything because they didn’t want to snitch. (most of the clients were formerly inmates in prison and were court ordered to be in treatment, sometimes we could figure out who though, and when they left or were unsuccessfully discharged things would get a little better moral wise). So I decided to do two articles in one group, “Bullying.” Gale Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection, Gale, 2019 *Gale is an academic institution* (This article did a great job defining the different types of bullying) and “Leadership and Bullying” by Mark Graybill (Master’s in Industrial/Organizational Psychology and is a management consultant, and a Ph.D. student of Psychology specializing in Social Cognition and Instruction.) After the clients read and discussed both articles, I assigned homework based on the second article I asked them what is the solution to bullying? Great leaders that stand up to bullies. So they had a week to pick either a person, organization, or agency that played a role in history to combat bullies and share that with the group. (I thought I should mention that when I assign homework to the clients that I normally would participate as well, in this case I picked Stokely Standiford Churchill Carmichael also known as Kwame Ture I selected him to share with the clients because of his civil rights activism, standing up to bullies “racist” and convincing white and black people to work together on this )
About the end of January I had a lot of clients that were dealing with some type of anxiety disorder for a decent amount of them it was debilitating and affecting their ability to participate in group so in both my caseload group and the regular groups I incorporated these two articles over the course of a week and a half both were from Optimistminds (an editorial team made up of psychologists, psychiatrists and mental health professionals) the first titled “How to resolve anxiety?” and “Best Positive Affirmations for Anxiety (11+ Calming Statements)”. Also something I didn’t normally do I tried to encourage the people that have anxiety to read to build their confidence and would sit next to them in support.
At this point it was February an I wanted to to do two different activities with the clients because you know valentines day and Black History month. The first was we read an article from Psychology Today titled “Music Therapy” after we read an discussed it, and I informed the clients the importance of them finding music that they enjoy and how starting the day with their favorite song can start them off on a positive note and brighten their mood. For homework I had the clients pick their favorite song and journal about why this was their favorite song and what it meant to them then next week for those that felt comfortable they where allowed to share 2 mins of said song (no inappropriate songs and of course people played some SMDH), and share with the group what they wrote. I will be honest this was probably the most emotional group I ever had, but it ended up being the most therapeutic group I ever had with the clients. even people that normally don’t talk, participate, or said they couldn’t or didn’t want to do this ended up having the best songs from artist I never heard of, and their reasoning for the the song was so powerful and impactful to everyone in the room. Some smiled, some cried, but the most important thing as that everyone got something out of this. (it turned out way better than I thought.) The point of this activity was just for the clients to realize that they have other ways to express themselves and deal with stress, anger, etc. also to be open to other forms of music, and be able to express themselves.
The second activity we had to start off with was Black History month I decided to share with the clients an important figure in history Marguerite Annie Johnson also known as Maya Angelo, informing them of her civil rights activism, writing, an poetry. Then we read an I gave them “Poetry 101: What Is Poetic Form? Learn About 15 Different Types of Poems” by MasterClass and they also received 10 Important Elements of Poetry by Poetry Analysis. I will be honest this was a struggle for most of them some had never learned this in school and some of the words were hard to pronounce, but I made sure they were aware I wasn’t expecting them to use any of these forms of poetry just to learn something new and what the different forms where called that they already use. Then I assigned homework, the clients had a week to write a poem about anything they want, it could be about them someone else, something else, and any point in time in history. The point of this exercise was to give the clients another tool they can use to deal with stress, anger, obstacles in their life. (around this time a had one client that was dealing with a lot of anger so it was perfect timing, i also participated in this with the clients and shared a poem I wrote called Control “Read Here“). So the month of February touched everything from Black history month to Valentines with the music and poetry focus.
March was Woman’s History Month during group we read 23 Ways Feminists Have Made the World Better for Women by BYZERLINA MAXWELL from MIC.com this article was a lead up to the homework assignment. I wanted to build the self esteem up of the clients to see how far women have come and how other women have improved our situation in society from the discrimination, sexism, and misogyny women have experienced in history especially in the United States of America, as well as supporting the civil rights of other marginalized groups such as ourselves. The clients were given a homework assignment they were placed in groups based upon the rooms they shared together and they had to pick a woman from the list I created to do a presentation on together as a group. The list comprised of mostly women none including myself have never heard of, I tried to incorporate women they could relate to a week or so prior I asked all the clients their religion, ethnic group, and race and I tried to have mix based on that. This was an exciting assignment for them, we all learned something new, and some of the women were great, some did amazing things for women but did other bad things they didn’t agree with, and some women went through addiction like themselves.( I will be honest some of the clients did not help with the homework assignment, or didn’t put much effort into it) For caseload group we did an article that tied into women and also African Americans overcoming hardships, the title was 9 Ways to Overcome Adversity Medically reviewed by Karin Gepp, PsyD — By Jenna Fletcher from PsychCentral.
For the month of April into May these are the articles we read and reviewed rather in group or caseload. 6 Ways to Practice Gratitude When You’re Feeling Depressed Medically reviewed by Bethany Juby, PsyD — By Hope Gillette from PsychCentral. The Differences Between Grief and Depression, 3 Benefits of Vulnerability both Reviewed by Davia Sills paired with the article Grief and People-Pleasing both from Psychology Today. Do Positive Affirmations Work? Medically reviewed by Jacquelyn Johnson, PsyD. — By Sarah Barkley from PsychCentral. Some other articles reviewed were What’s to know about codependent relationships? Medically reviewed by Timothy J. Legg, PhD, PsyD — By Jennifer Berry from Medical News Today and 25 Tips To Stop People Pleasing from MantraCare. For a three day journey with all the clients groups were canceled and each counselor had a topic they had to do with the clients, mine involved these two articles 13 Self Reflection Worksheets & Templates to Use in Therapy by Jeremy Sutton, Ph.D. from Positive Psychology and The Integrated Reflective Cycle from The University of Edinburgh at ed.ac.uk. Also “The unique harm of sexual abuse in the black community” by Jennifer M. Gómez from the website called The Conversation, this article in particular resonated with all the women and even though the article focused on Black people the clients were able to see and share how it connected with them an their community or others.
In the month of May 2023 which was my last month working with the clients I had the opportunity to conduct groups with re-entry clients that had earned the privilege to work and save money, these are some of the articles and topics I went over with them and packets provided to them. Resume and Cover letter guide from Harvard University , 18 Résumé Writing Tips to Help You Stand Out
By Allison Pohle from the Wall Street Journal, and 45 Resume Tips for Getting a Job in 2023 by Gabriela Hernandez from LiveCareer. Even though we went over these topics we still discussed how they were doing in their recovery, barriers at work, and other issues they wanted to discuss. Through out my entire time of being a substance abuse counselor i would use various videos from a playlist I created to facilitate groups and also tie into the topics we were currently discussing or issues we were having in the unit from jealously, self centerness, grief, depression, self esteem, and narcissism. Probably ones of the best videos we watched was on Narcissism and emotional intelligence as well as social emotional learning and how all these connect to addition and recovery, as well as relapse, here is the videos about learning different things related to substance abuse, recovery, and behavior Click Here. Probably one of the most powerful documentaries I showed in group was a compilation of videos I had to find on an African American Women named Amanda this was a detailed expose of the stages of change someone goes through that is troubled with addiction, I didn’t force anyone to watch because it could have been triggering for them, so I allowed those to do a different activity. The purpose was to show the stages of change in real time, even though the documentary started off really sad and rough things get better toward the end. Watch Here
Even though I have no formal training in being a substance abuse counselor, nor degree in that field, I would agree that the approach and style I bought to this environment was unique, thoughtful, and related to real issues the women were dealing with. I hope I left a positive mark and impression on them that will influence others as well. before my last day of working with these amazing people I left this book for both the woman’s and men’s unit the name of the book is “The Relational Book for Parenting: Raising Children to Connect, Collaborate, and Innovate by Growing our Families’ Relationship Superpowers. The Relational Book” by Greene, Mr. Mark, Bava, Dr. Saliha, Gergen, Kenneth J. This is an amazing resource for both the male and female clients that have children, want to have children, and/or are taking care of children, it exposes some of the bad behaviors parents instill on the young growing minds and how to improve that as well as teaching them social emotional learning. I hope that this article give people a little look into who I am as person, my motivations, and passion. Hopefully this genuine timeline about my time and experience working in this field will encourage other to and give people ideas for what they could potentially do in there group. I will be honest that a lot was left out in regards to the negative experiences that I had, clients leaving treatment, fights, drugs being bought into the facility, clients breaking rules and violence, as well as unethical behavior by the facility I worked for and how I dealt with and responded to all these situations. I would agree that I fell like these instances would add nothing to the point of this article because this isn’t about me its about ‘YOU’ the person going through addition, and how the items shared in this article can play a role in helping you beat it or assist a counselor.
Chani Kinsler 