Counselor Magazine's Addiction Professional's Reference Guide

by White, William L.

• ISBN13: 9780757306488
• ISBN10: 0757306489
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2007-07-01
• Publisher: HCI BOOKS

Summary

The Essential Desk Reference for Every Addiction Professional From noted Counselor contributor William L. White, M.A., comes the most comprehensive reference available today for the addiction professional. A consolidated resource directory for anyone working in the addiction treatment and recovery fields, this desk reference includes listings for: important national organizations related governmental agencies trade associations accrediting organizations addiction research centers private foundations funding prevention and treatment-related initiatives contact information for addiction licensing and certification organizations Today's professional often faces ethical and legal dilemmas during the course of addiction treatment and recovery support. This guide includes helpful guidelines and resources for handling issues, including confidentiality, counselor-client relationships, and compliance with the law. In a field that is constantly growing and evolving, Counselor Magazine's Addiction Professional's Reference Guide will serve as an invaluable resource for practicing counselors.

Author Biography

William L. White, M.A., is a senior research consultant at Chestnut Health Systems with more than thirty-five years of experience in the addictions field as a counselor, clinical director, researcher, and trainer. He has authored or coauthored ten books and more than 200 articles and monographs.

Excerpts

The Historical Essence of Addiction Counseling William L. White, M.A. What distinguishes the profession of addiction counseling from the array of helping roles that have preceded and have followed it? What would be lost if the specialized knowledge and functions performed by the addiction counselor disappeared? This essay will explore these questions by attempting to define the historical essence of addiction counseling. The distinctiveness of this role lies in the unique way alcohol and other drug (AOD) problems and their solutions have been defined within the addictions field. It also lies in nuanced views of the addiction counselor's relationship to self and his or her relationship to the addicted client/family, other service professionals and the community. Theoretical Foundation There are four defining premises of addiction counseling that historically separate the addiction counselor from other helping roles. These premises are that: 1) severe and persistent alcohol and other drug problems constitute a primary disorder rather than a superficial symptom of underlying problems 2) the multiple life problems experienced by AOD-impacted individuals can be resolved only within the framework of recovery initiation and maintenance 3) many individuals with high problem complexity (biological vulnerability, high severity, co-morbidity) and low 'recovery capital' (internal assets, family and social support) are unable to achieve stable recovery without professional assistance, and 4) professional assistance is best provided by individuals with special knowledge and expertise in facilitating the physical, psychological, socio-cultural and often spiritual journey from addiction to recovery. If AOD problems could be solved by physically unraveling the person-drug relationship, only physicians and nurses trained in the mechanics of detoxification would be needed to address these problems. If AOD problems were simply a symptom of untreated psychiatric illness, more psychiatrists, not addiction counselors would be needed. If these problems were only a reflection of grief, trauma, family disturbance, economic distress, or cultural oppression, we would need psychologists, social workers, vocational counselors, and social activists rather than addiction counselors. Historically, other professions conveyed to the addict that other problems were the source of addiction and their resolution was the pathway to recovery. Addiction counseling was built on the failure of this premise. The addiction counselor offered a distinctly different view: 'All that you have been and will be flows from the problem of addiction and how you respond or fail to respond to it.' Addiction counseling as a profession rests on the proposition that AOD problems reach a point of self-contained independence from their initiating roots and that direct knowledge of addiction, its specialized treatment and the processes of long-term recovery provide the most viabl

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Excerpted from Counselor Magazine's Addiction Professional's Reference Guide by William L. White
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