Guest guest Posted May 24, 2001 Report Share Posted May 24, 2001 Addiction is a Choice by Schaler, 2000, Open Court Chapter 7: Who are the Addiction Treatment Providers Appendix: A Study of Addiction Treatment Providers Rehab Personnel Does anyone out there know of any formal or informalcensus concerning the background of rehab counselors?I've read that virtually all of them are either12-steppers and/or educated in some rational supportgroup treatment models. It wouldn't surprise me ifthat was the case in the U.S., given that thetreatment industry here seems to be based exclusivelyin these modalities.Any input?Ron __________________________________________________ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 24, 2001 Report Share Posted May 24, 2001 I have no official information. All I have is anecdotal information and what things looked like to me. While I was never in a rehab myself, I visited rehabs with other steppers. It did seem to me that counselors were recovering alcoholics/addicts themselves for the most part. My partner was one who went through rehab, and afterwards stayed on to become a counselor. Things fell apart, though, when he questioned the steps and got into head-butting contests over the program and coerced religion. And don't think for one moment that all rehab counselors are sober. Some probably are, but there are others who tell clients how to get sober and straight, and then leave work and get stoned. While my partner was doing his counselor training, another counselor overdosed and ended up in detox. While he was there he spilled the beans and reported that my partner was using also. My partner denied it indignantly. He refused a urine test, and was so indignant that he got away with it. Yes, the guy who reported him was right, but my partner was able to get the supervisors to back down. It also helped that he was aware of some sexual indiscretions that the higher ups had been engaged in. There was another rehab where a counselor freaked out and confessed to continued drug use, and a bunch of other counselors got exposed. There are some people who respond to sobriety by getting their Addictions Counselor Certification and hanging out a shingle. I got help from the Alcoholism Council in Ithaca NY as the significant other of the alcoholic. A lot of the counselors working there were recovering steppers. And I do believe there are some counselors who do stay sober and try to do this thing right. But it also seems to me that becoming an alcoholism counselor is a good way to stay in the alcohol scene without having to get drunk. I made that observation to my partner. I said, " All that is going on is that everyone is switching places, that's all. But they're still in the scene, still doing the same old thing. They're not drunk now, but they're hanging out with drunks, thinking about alcohol, focusing on alcohol, making it the center of their lives. They're just not drunk. They're counseling drunks instead of getting drunk themselves, but they're still in the drunk scene. " I could have gone on and gotten a counseling degree. But I did not. I did not want to play that game, and I'm suspicious when I hear a stepper going on about becoming an alcoholism counselor. (Likewise, I could have responded to domestic abuse by going and getting a Social Worker's Degree and hanging out a shingle and advertising counseling for battered women. But I absolutely did not want to go and do that.) Regards, nz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 24, 2001 Report Share Posted May 24, 2001 Hi Berne wrote abt this. He said alcoholism was a multi-player " game " which had the alcoholic, a persecutor (often the spouse), an enabler (often the boss) and a rescuer and I think other roles that I dont remember now. He says that often ppl just change roles, and that AA is essentially abt turning ppl into rescuers. He also claims there is evidence that in small towns AA meetings may collapse when they run out of drunks to sober up, but that may be apocryphal. Perhaps he might also have said that sponsors have often turned into persecutors... P. > But it also seems to me that becoming an alcoholism counselor is a good way > to stay in the alcohol scene without having to get drunk. I made that > observation to my partner. I said, " All that is going on is that everyone > is switching places, that's all. But they're still in the scene, still > doing the same old thing. They're not drunk now, but they're hanging out > with drunks, thinking about alcohol, focusing on alcohol, making it the > center of their lives. They're just not drunk. They're counseling drunks > instead of getting drunk themselves, but they're still in the drunk scene. " Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 24, 2001 Report Share Posted May 24, 2001 Oh, now, dammit, I'm having a senior moment here...what's the name of that transactional analysis guy who was a disciple of Berne? Was it Claude Something-or-other? Pete said, " Berne wrote abt this. He said alcoholism was a multi-player " game " which had the alcoholic, a persecutor (often the spouse), an enabler (often the boss) and a rescuer and I think other roles that I dont remember now. " Steiner. Hmm, I think that's the guy's name. He wrote about this business of alcoholic games, wrote a whole book. " Games Alcoholics Play. " Excuse me for a minute while I go to Amazon.com and see if I'm right.... I'm back. (These new-fangled computers with all the bells and whistle are so handy. I can just click and to to a website and check, and come right back.) Yup, I'm right, and he also has one called " Healing Alcoholism " , which is out of print, but you can get a used copy. Anyway, he goes into the various games and permutations on games that go on in the wonderful world of alcoholism. IIRC, he also says that the alcoholic game can happen in a more economical form, with the wife being the enabler, the persecutor, and the rescuer all rolled into one. I read these books back in the '80's when I was trying to figure out what the hell was going on, and more important, what the hell I could do about it. I still don't have that clear an idea... Cheers, nz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 24, 2001 Report Share Posted May 24, 2001 At 04:18 PM 5/24/01 -0700, Ron s wrote: >Does anyone out there know of any formal or informal >census concerning the background of rehab counselors? >I've read that virtually all of them are either >12-steppers and/or educated in some rational support >group treatment models. It wouldn't surprise me if >that was the case in the U.S., given that the >treatment industry here seems to be based exclusively >in these modalities. In the centers around Atlanta I recall informally learning that the main or only qualifications were being sober in AA for two years, and sounding good in an interview. I understood the pay was low, because after all they were doing it to pass on the message of AA, not for the money. ----- This post (except quoted portions) Copyright 2001, Ben Bradley. http://listen.to/benbradley Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 24, 2001 Report Share Posted May 24, 2001 > And don't think for one moment that all rehab > counselors are sober. Some > probably are, but there are others who tell clients > how to get sober and > straight, and then leave work and get stoned. It's hard to believe that many counselors stay sober under the 12 step model, where double-speak like " relapse is part of recovery " is accepted and preached. What a great excuse to use again. Jack Trimpey refers to this as pure Addictive Voice. > But it also seems to me that becoming an alcoholism > counselor is a good way > to stay in the alcohol scene without having to get > drunk...But they're still in the scene, still > doing the same old thing. They're not drunk now, > but they're hanging out with drunks, thinking about alcohol, focusing on alcohol, making it the center of their lives. If you don't drink, do the next best thing:pre-occupy your thinking with all things alcohol. This fits a concept I've been studying in Rational Recovery, where AA and other " Anonymous " support groups are referred to as the embodiment of the Addictive Voice. Under this model, as I understand it(forgive my phrasing), such people are still addicted because of the continual focus on the problem. Thanks lauranz Ron __________________________________________________ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 24, 2001 Report Share Posted May 24, 2001 ? Mr. I'm ok, your ok? --- wrote: > Oh, now, dammit, I'm having a senior moment > here...what's the name of that > transactional analysis guy who was a disciple of > Berne? Was it Claude > Something-or-other? > > Pete said, " Berne wrote abt this. He said > alcoholism was a > multi-player > " game " which had the alcoholic, a persecutor (often > the spouse), an > enabler (often the boss) and a rescuer and I think > other roles that I > dont remember now. " > > Steiner. Hmm, I think that's the guy's name. He > wrote about this business > of alcoholic games, wrote a whole book. " Games > Alcoholics Play. " > > Excuse me for a minute while I go to Amazon.com and > see if I'm right.... > > I'm back. (These new-fangled computers with all the > bells and whistle are > so handy. I can just click and to to a website and > check, and come right > back.) Yup, I'm right, and he also has one called > " Healing Alcoholism " , > which is out of print, but you can get a used copy. > > Anyway, he goes into the various games and > permutations on games that go on > in the wonderful world of alcoholism. IIRC, he also > says that the alcoholic > game can happen in a more economical form, with the > wife being the enabler, > the persecutor, and the rescuer all rolled into one. > > I read these books back in the '80's when I was > trying to figure out what > the hell was going on, and more important, what the > hell I could do about > it. I still don't have that clear an idea... > > Cheers, > > nz > > __________________________________________________ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 25, 2001 Report Share Posted May 25, 2001 Ron asks, " ? Mr. I'm ok, your ok? " No, the guy I was thinking of is Claude Steiner, who wrote a couple books specifically about alcoholism. I do believe " I'm okay, you're okay " is part of the Transactional Analysis system though, isn't it? Games and interactions are another thing that I find interesting. Cheers, nz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 25, 2001 Report Share Posted May 25, 2001 At 02:20 AM 5/25/01 +0000, you wrote: >Hi > > Berne wrote abt this. He said alcoholism was a multi-player > " game " which had the alcoholic, a persecutor (often the spouse), an >enabler (often the boss) and a rescuer and I think other roles that I >dont remember now. He says that often ppl just change roles, and that >AA is essentially abt turning ppl into rescuers. He also claims there >is evidence that in small towns AA meetings may collapse when they run >out of drunks to sober up, but that may be apocryphal. Perhaps he >might also have said that sponsors have often turned into >persecutors... I recall his saying that small-town AA members will often start having relapses so that the other members can sober them up again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 25, 2001 Report Share Posted May 25, 2001 nz wrote: I do believe " I'm > okay, you're okay " is part > of the Transactional Analysis system though, isn't > it? Yes. In fact, I think his book helped to popularize TA in US culture. Ron __________________________________________________ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.