Alcohol and Substance Abuse Counselor - Admission/Application Essay Example

when I looked into that little girls eyes, and knew that I had made a connection, knew that I had made her world a better place, that is when I knew for sure that I chose the right profession…” 2009 Performance Award, Acme Inc. “…We are all proud to have worked with such a dedicated and reliable counselor, and we hope many more people that are as caring as you come along …” 2008 Performance Review Excerpt, Acme Inc. “…Jane’s outstanding way of communicating is what really sets her apart…” Computer Skills: MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, Outlook **These notes were made for assessment progress at the time of the assignment, names have been altered to ensure patient privacy. **During this period emergency contact is made available by phone line in to the counseling center. **Client John Doe shows amazing personal growth by focusing on an outside interest, in his case his athletic ability, and using his vision of himself for the future to make major improvements in his personal life, admit his addiction, and begin recovery. **I strongly encourage hobbies and career pursuits, as I believe that this helps to shift the focus to the future—getting the patient out of the stuck-in-the-present rut and build new social networks. **Names have been altered to protect the identity and privacy of the patient, but events reflect the real story of a client. Looking back, you realize that a very special person passed briefly through your life, and that person was you.  It is not too late to become that person again ~Robert Brault **Writing can be an excellent form of personal therapy—allowing a patient to express themselves in ways that they might never otherwise be able to do with another person human being. ‘Writing is a form of personal freedom. It frees us from the mass identity we see in the making all around us.’ ~Don Delillo Portfolio of Jane Doe 24 Something St.  Sometown, WY 82001  555-555-5555  someone@somedomain.com Alcohol and Substance Abuse Counselor Experienced counselor with over five years experience in reaching out to victims of alcohol and substance abuse as well as their families and loved ones. Dedicated to improving the life of clients in a challenging and rewarding area of mental health. Office Organization & Administration General Bookkeeping (A/P & A/R) One-on-one Client Interaction Telephone Counseling Experience Evolution of Personal Practice Theory 12/12/2012 After nearly an hour of staring at my journal, I wondered “What could I say that would show my true passion for my work?” How could I express the journey that I have taken in working with so many lives affected by alcohol and substance abuse? In my career, I have come to realize that each life begins as a blank sheet, and the substance of our actions fills it. When I approach a new patient, I don’t think of him or her as an addict, I think of that person as an individual—a son, daughter, mother, or brother—with something to give to society. I try to picture them before their problem and to help them to remember why they are here, what they are trying to achieve. In my sessions, I focus on the solutions. I help patient break free from the idea that they are defined by their past, and focus on their future. Even though it is challenging, when I reach an individual, I know it’s worthwhile. SAMPLE PROGRESS NOTES Typed Assessment 11/16/09 John Doe was assessed by our staff and referred to XYZ Counseling Center for IOP. Referral completed. Client given baseline UA. LA Provider Narrative 12/14/09 John Doe was assessed and completed testing. He exhibited signs of alcohol dependence as evidenced by admitted previous attempts at abstinence, periods of blackout and hangover, marked tolerance, statements of relationship problems including abusive behavior. He exhibits confusion insisting the year is 2007. He often mentions Christmas of 1998 and appears reluctant to discuss further. He also has a previous OWI and completed Level I with this program in 2002. Referred to XYZ Counseling Center for IOP. Baseline UA taken. Follow-up Note 01/2/10 Client in for case mgt. Client attending treatment and exhibits openness is personal discussion. He is prone to erratic mood changes and is quick to anger. Progress okay. UA taken was negative. Client indicates issues with anger and escalating relationship issues. He expresses an interest in sports. Referred to adults sports coordinator at community center MNOP. Schedule for 3 wks. LA 01/26/10 Client in for case mgt. Client attending treatment and shows eager discussion of sports and interests with positive attitude. Progress good. UA taken was negative. Client indicates no major issues and improvement in personal life. LEARNING JOURNAL EXCERPT Janna Doe Janna was born in 1972 to family in a suburban area just West of Memphis, TN. At an early age she started partying and laughingly referred to herself now as “the life of the party back then”. Then she could handle drinking every night. No problem. That was the stamina of youth. But now Janna was older, going through her second divorce and almost completely estranged from her two young daughters. Her first husband had booted her out of their expensive new house and claimed custody of her daughters six years prior after she had set one of the girl’s bedroom curtains on fire in a drunken state after coming in late one night. She had tried AA then, but quickly washed out. She had lost everything, but still hadn’t had enough. After her second husband had left and filed for divorce two months prior, there was no money left to pay the bills. Soon all she had money for was alcohol, and then came the eviction. She says with a sigh “Some days I didn’t even know if it was day or night, or even how many days had gone by,” she glances out the window, “Sometimes I wonder what I missed in those days.” This time, none of her family would take her in, instead they referred her to the local AA worker. “It was tough love,” she says, “back then I thought I was special, like nobody else shared my story. The AA worker just looked at me with a knowing look. If I could have only known back then that I was just one of the alcoholics, just like so many others.” Janna has been sober for two years, is remarried currently, with a son due in two months at the time of this journal entry. Her progress has been inspirational, and she now speaks at AA meetings and encourages others to realize that they are not the alone. SELF ASSESSMENT Alcohol and substance abuse is a challenging and emotionally charged field. I have a desire to pursue the hard cases, and I believe that I have the characteristics to reach out and let my clients know they are not alone. The materials I have collected here represent my personal counseling theory and suggest that, as Mr. Brault’s quote implies, each of my patients is more than they appear. Underneath there is a person with a story waiting to be told. I would like to help them express that using my skills, as listed below. Organizational Management Critical Thinking Leadership & Supervision Case Management Human Interaction Therapy and Assessment Treatment Recommendation Substance Abuse Counseling LEARNING JOURNAL EXCERPT Tony Doe As an adult child of an alcoholic, as part of my group counseling therapy, I have made this journal. I am 39 years old. I am not going to put my name on this website, but I am going to put an email. I check it regularly. If you have gone through something similar you can email me and I will write back. I want you to know that there IS HOPE. My father was an attorney. It wasn’t so bad when I was young. He drank, but he didn’t drink every night. We went to Mexico for family holiday. We were part of the country club. He made a good living, and I don’t think anyone at work knew what was happening. When I turned twelve, he was drinking every night. I had two sisters, both older. I remember him waking up drunk two or three times in the night. Sometimes he would barge into our rooms. I would hear my sisters scream and I would try to cover my head with the pillow. If I couldn’t hear, it would be almost like it went away. I had trouble in school. I didn’t date in highschool. I didn’t want anyone to find out. If I had bruises, or when my eye was black I lied. I said I worked in a junkyard. It was hard work there. Everyone believed me. One night I woke up to my father screaming. The lights were on. He pointed his shotgun at me and said. “This ones for you—you’re the last mistake I’ll make”. My sister was two years older than me. She tried to stop him. The shell blew a hole in the wall right over my headboard. He screamed. I don’t know where she got the knife. She had stabbed him in the arm. The next morning he wondered to my mother how he had gotten cut. We said we didn’t know. He bandaged the wound. My mother always lied to him. She always took it. She was so beaten. She didn’t leave him until I was grown. My sister removed her—forcibly. She is remarried. I think she’s happy now. I take my daughter to visit her sometimes. “…there were things I don’t think I could have ever talked about before—not to even to my husband. I couldn’t even tell my counselor. But when I wrote them down, it was like someone else talking. It all just came out…” **These notes were made for assessment of a case that I was assigned as a student—one of my first and most memorable cases, an one that helped me to know that I was choosing the right career. **During this period the client entered a rehabilitation facility after our first two meetings. She was released. This session occurred two months after her release. **The value of “homework” can not be overlooked. It is imperative to connect the therapy with the client’s day-to-day life, reinforcing the positives we discuss and helping to overcome temptations—empowering the client to take control of their own life. ‘A goal without a plan is just a wish’ ~Larry Elder **Everything I work on with my clients is goal-oriented. Small steps are what makes big goals a reality. **I made this mind map based on group therapy sessions—I like to get the group started and let them fill in the branches themselves. This approach engages the group and helps them all to see that everyone has future goals that are within reach—and maybe even identify some of their own. Writing as a Tool in Personal Practice Writing is a form of expression, and many times the first hurdle my patients face is fear of just that. After years of submitting to abuse, giving in to their depression, or trying to hide an addition themselves, they have learned to avoid their real feelings. They have learned to compartmentalize the things that cause them pain, as if hiding those things from the rest of the world somehow makes them less real. One of the first steps I like to take is breaking through those boundaries—cutting through the self-doubt and lies—and giving the patient the freedom to express themselves without fear of reprisal. Not only is the expression healthy, this therapy also builds trust. SAMPLE CASE NOTE CASE NOTE CLIENT NAME: Betty Doe STUDENT COUNSELOR NAME: Jane Doe CLIENT AGE: 24 CLIENT SEX: F DATE OF SESSION: 04/07/2005 SESSION NUMBER: 3 LENGTH OF SESSION: 35 mins. TOTAL TIME (APPROX.) SPENT WITH THIS CLIENT TO DATE: 110 mins. STATEMENT OF CONCERN: Client wants to feel empowered over alcohol. She states that she doesn’t want to drink, but that other people make her drink. She says when she is intoxicated she feels scared. She wants help fighting relapse into her addition. RELEVANT BACKGROUND INFO.: The client currently works as a nursing aid in a home for the elderly. She reports feeling out of control at work, and feels that superiors and coworkers are singling her out. She reports that she generally likes working with geriatric patients. She dislikes authority figures and her own lack of authority. Client is currently residing with her boyfriend. She states that her boyfriend and his clients/friends drink around her regularly and keep alcohol in open areas in the home, making it difficult not to drink herself after release from Alcohol Rehabilitation Facility XYZ. OBJECTIVE DESCRIPTION OF SESSION: Counselor observes no immediate concerns with client dress, hygiene, grooming, health, or physical appearance. Client was open and willing to discuss issues in depth and without hesitation as observed by the counselor. Session began with a general introduction and determination of the evening’s goals, and progressed to a general discussion of the client’s current life situation, in which she identified two areas of discontent: Attitudes of coworkers/superiors towards her and encouragement by boyfriend/friends to consume alcohol. Session ended with a “homework assignment”: the client will identify specific situations that required decisive action on her part to avoid alcohol consumption. Verbal and nonverbal behavior was congruent. Client’s tone of voice was apropos of the subject matter GOALS Short-term: Identify the subjects that make the client feel pressured to drink (homework). Long-term: Improve client health and reduce/eliminate compulsion to consume alcohol. PROGRESS TOWARD GOALS: Control of alcohol intake and personal empowerment. SAY NO TO ALCOHOL MIND MAP Read More