Question by Shabu Shabu: Do I have to be in Drug Counselling my whole life?
45 years ago my dad let me take a sip of his beer. About 8 years ago the government found out.

I have been in Court-Ordered Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous classes ever since. I’ve never tried drugs, and have not had beer since that incident in the 1960’s! I’m a coffee drinker and a book worm. Alcohol makes you stupid and I never drank it.

These classes are really annoying. I have to take 24 hours of classes a week. Three for each, three times a week, and half-time on weekends. Everything I do, I am accused of “relapsing” and getting put back in a hospital or jail! My “sponsor” is a crack-head and thinks anytime I do ANYTHING it’s because of my “addiction” or my “disease”.

A “disease” I got as a kid, that sadly, there is no cure for. No pill to cure.

I am also forced to do 2-4 prayers to Jesus at every meeting. Even though I am not Christian. I was told “Your higher power can be anything you want. Even an ashtray if you want, but Jesus is the highest Power!”

This is all really distressing me and my life to where I’m starting to seriously think about drinking! Will I have to take these classes forever?? Or can I somehow get my life back? Shouldn’t my dad be responsible for giving me alcohol? It’s not my fault! I don’t feel diseased. But they say that’s the denial of the illness talking….

Any advice? Thank you…

Best answer:

Answer by Mollie
Is this a joke? There is no place on earth the government would require someone to pray to Jesus.

Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments!

Question by Shabu Shabu: Do I have to be in Drug Counselling my whole life?
45 years ago my dad let me take a sip of his beer. About 8 years ago the government found out.

I have been in Court-Ordered Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous classes ever since. I’ve never tried drugs, and have not had beer since that incident in the 1960’s! I’m a coffee drinker and a book worm. Alcohol makes you stupid and I never drank it.

These classes are really annoying. I have to take 24 hours of classes a week. Three for each, three times a week, and half-time on weekends. Everything I do, I am accused of “relapsing” and getting put back in a hospital or jail! My “sponsor” is a crack-head and thinks anytime I do ANYTHING it’s because of my “addiction” or my “disease”.

A “disease” I got as a kid, that sadly, there is no cure for. No pill to cure.

I am also forced to do 2-4 prayers to Jesus at every meeting. Even though I am not Christian. I was told “Your higher power can be anything you want. Even an ashtray if you want, but Jesus is the highest Power!”

This is all really distressing me and my life to where I’m starting to seriously think about drinking! Will I have to take these classes forever?? Or can I somehow get my life back? Shouldn’t my dad be responsible for giving me alcohol? It’s not my fault! I don’t feel diseased. But they say that’s the denial of the illness talking….

Any advice? Thank you…

Best answer:

Answer by Mollie
Is this a joke? There is no place on earth the government would require someone to pray to Jesus.

Give your answer to this question below!

by nogger

Question by Danyel: What type of education would I need to become an RN at a substance abuse detox facility?
I am currently going to school for pre-health with a nursing concentration, until I have the requirements to apply for nursing. I would like to be able to work as an RN in a substance abuse facility. I was wondering if anyone could give me any advise as to how to go about doing this? I do not know if I will need to specialize in a certain area in order to do so or not? If anyone could help me out in regards to what to do education wise I would really appreciate it! Thanks!

Best answer:

Answer by MeMeMe
Hi,

First off, good for you for wanting to work in addiction treatment! I’m an addictions counselor and have been working in mental health (mostly suicide prevention) for 7 years and we certainly need more qualified RNs in the field. So I think you will have an easy time finding work once you’re finished with school.

As for your question… To become an RN, you need to go to nursing school. Although I’m sure you already know this. As for specializing in addiction treatment, I don’t believe there are any additional requirements, but it would be good if you have experience working with addicts or at least a greater knowledge of treating clients with addiction. So I would suggest trying to get an internship of some sort with a treatment center in your area. They may not let you do much while you’re in school, but you will be able to put it on your resume. You can learn a lot from observing how things work in treatment. The other suggestion I have would be to take some extra classes that focus on substance abuse. Drug addicts and alcoholics face a variety of special issues separate from the “normal” population you would be working with in a hospital. Most community colleges and some universities now offer programs where you can learn more about these issues. I don’t know where you live, but you may want to start looking for college programs titled “Addictions Counseling” or “Addictions Studies.” Classes you may want to take would be any type of pharmacology, a bloodborne pathogens/infectious disease class, and even alternative treatments to addiction classes. It could also help to take a few classes for addictions counselors like group therapy, individual therapy, or something similar. These will definitely help you in the future in terms of communicating with your clients.

The most important thing I would think an RN working in addiction should have to be educated about is prescription drugs of abuse. Normally when I do an intake on a client coming into treatment, they have been medically prescribed multiple addictive drugs that only contribute to and exacerbate their disease (addiction). Usually these include opiate painkillers, benzodiazepines, and other sedatives and tranquilizers. I had a client once who was on NINE different benzos which she had been on for years, all prescribed by doctors for things like insomnia, anxiety, and even hypothyroidism. This is so egregious and disgusting to me! They were killing her. She obviously had to be medically detoxed for risk of seizures and death from her meds. And needless to say, after being evaluated by our MD, she didn’t NEED any of the pills.

Anyway, I’m rambling. Just excited to see someone wanting to help in the field of addiction treatment. It is rare these days, it seems. But what a satisfying and rewarding job. Good luck to you!!!

What do you think? Answer below!

Drug counselling spider diagram

Image by ohskylab
A drug-counsellor friend found this diagram on a whiteboard at work after another counsellor had given a two hour session. He recreated it on paper for us.

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by nogger

Question by Danyel: What type of education would I need to become an RN at a substance abuse detox facility?
I am currently going to school for pre-health with a nursing concentration, until I have the requirements to apply for nursing. I would like to be able to work as an RN in a substance abuse facility. I was wondering if anyone could give me any advise as to how to go about doing this? I do not know if I will need to specialize in a certain area in order to do so or not? If anyone could help me out in regards to what to do education wise I would really appreciate it! Thanks!

Best answer:

Answer by MeMeMe
Hi,

First off, good for you for wanting to work in addiction treatment! I’m an addictions counselor and have been working in mental health (mostly suicide prevention) for 7 years and we certainly need more qualified RNs in the field. So I think you will have an easy time finding work once you’re finished with school.

As for your question… To become an RN, you need to go to nursing school. Although I’m sure you already know this. As for specializing in addiction treatment, I don’t believe there are any additional requirements, but it would be good if you have experience working with addicts or at least a greater knowledge of treating clients with addiction. So I would suggest trying to get an internship of some sort with a treatment center in your area. They may not let you do much while you’re in school, but you will be able to put it on your resume. You can learn a lot from observing how things work in treatment. The other suggestion I have would be to take some extra classes that focus on substance abuse. Drug addicts and alcoholics face a variety of special issues separate from the “normal” population you would be working with in a hospital. Most community colleges and some universities now offer programs where you can learn more about these issues. I don’t know where you live, but you may want to start looking for college programs titled “Addictions Counseling” or “Addictions Studies.” Classes you may want to take would be any type of pharmacology, a bloodborne pathogens/infectious disease class, and even alternative treatments to addiction classes. It could also help to take a few classes for addictions counselors like group therapy, individual therapy, or something similar. These will definitely help you in the future in terms of communicating with your clients.

The most important thing I would think an RN working in addiction should have to be educated about is prescription drugs of abuse. Normally when I do an intake on a client coming into treatment, they have been medically prescribed multiple addictive drugs that only contribute to and exacerbate their disease (addiction). Usually these include opiate painkillers, benzodiazepines, and other sedatives and tranquilizers. I had a client once who was on NINE different benzos which she had been on for years, all prescribed by doctors for things like insomnia, anxiety, and even hypothyroidism. This is so egregious and disgusting to me! They were killing her. She obviously had to be medically detoxed for risk of seizures and death from her meds. And needless to say, after being evaluated by our MD, she didn’t NEED any of the pills.

Anyway, I’m rambling. Just excited to see someone wanting to help in the field of addiction treatment. It is rare these days, it seems. But what a satisfying and rewarding job. Good luck to you!!!

What do you think? Answer below!

Drug counselling spider diagram

Image by ohskylab
A drug-counsellor friend found this diagram on a whiteboard at work after another counsellor had given a two hour session. He recreated it on paper for us.

Ex-drugs counsellor stole meat to pay for heroin
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Join hands to eradicate drug abuse: DGP to stakeholders
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