Why Substance Abuse Counseling is a Fulfilling Career
In our adult lives, we spend the majority of our days busy at work. Unfortunately, research shows that an overwhelming majority of adults loathe their careers. Fewer than half of Americans report being satisfied or extremely satisfied with their current jobs. When you don’t like your job, you’re at a higher risk for developing resentments, fatigue, and complete burnout. You’re more likely only to provide the bare minimum- and the days, weeks, and years will subsequently drag.
Why Alcohol Use Disorder is a Chronic Disease and How to Manage it
Whether its environmental, genetic, lifestyle-related or all three, the gravitational pull individuals may feel toward alcohol can start as a means to “feel good” and lead to a dependence on the substance in order to feel normal. While society often promotes drinking in social situations, featuring it in television, movies, music and more, there is a stigma attached to Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD). Among the harmful misconceptions associated with alcoholism are the beliefs that individuals choose to drink and lack the willpower to stop, attributing it to a vice, rather than a chronic disease–as it was declared in 1956 by the American Medical Association (AMA).
Why Treatment Providers Strongly Recommend Alcohol Monitoring for Lasting Recovery
Treatment providers in the addiction recovery field have one unifying goal: help clients attain and maintain sobriety. One way to achieve this goal and help clients overcome Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) is through alcohol monitoring. As the leader in remote alcohol monitoring technology, Soberlink has helped treatment providers enhance clients’ recovery journeys for nearly a decade. Continue reading to discover why four out of five treatment providers recommend Soberlink.
Communication Tips for Treatment Professionals: Improve Your Relationship with Your Clients
Communication is the key to all successful relationships. It is the foundation on which trust, the cornerstone of relationships, is built. In a client-provider relationship, this trust is known as the therapeutic alliance, which helps patients know the treatment provider has their best interest at heart. Findings suggest that a strong therapeutic alliance helps reduce psychological distress during treatment for substance use disorders and facilitate necessary gains in maintaining sobriety, such as increased motivation, self-efficacy or coping skills. Here are a few essential communication strategies that treatment professionals can adopt to improve relationships with clients and promote trust, in support of positive outcomes.
How to Help Your Clients De-Stigmatize Relapse
One message you may regularly tell your clients or anyone else recovering from addiction is to take things one day at a time. It is one thing to say this, but it is another thing to accept this approach and put it into practice. The difficulty of putting this attitude into practice becomes apparent the moment someone experiences a relapse. Your client (or whoever has relapsed) often feels a range of emotions. These emotions can feel overwhelming, and these emotions can be powerful. Your client may feel shame, guilt, disappointment, and fear.
7 Ways Technology Can Assist in Addiction Recovery
For many years, addiction treatment has been more of a one-track approach, majorly focusing on the building of the individual’s moral strength and assisting them to be able to say, “No” to the substance they are abusing. Although the 12-Step Program has been highly successful at helping millions of people achieve and maintain sobriety through age-old concepts such as personal accountability and fellowship, other approaches can also be included to this addiction treatment program which can further improve outcomes.
Using Technology to Enhance Your Addiction Treatment Program
An estimated 22 million people in the U.S. are in recovery from alcohol and other drug addictions, each on a recovery path uniquely their own. As we journey through the Digital Age where 62.9% of the world population has a cell phone, it’s becoming increasingly inevitable that Telehealth – the use of technologies to provide care over a distance – will be incorporated into recovery treatment programs.
5 Ways to Manage Alcohol Cravings After a Recovery Program
The road to recovery doesn’t end after completing a recovery program. Depending on the severity of someone’s addiction, a person in recovery may continue to struggle with alcohol use disorder for the rest of their life. When cravings hit, there are several ways to combat these urges so they do not interfere with the lifelong recovery process.
What History Can Teach Us About Fighting Disease Stigma
For centuries, disease has been the subject of stigma and discrimination. From social exclusion to outright punishment, people with illnesses, including Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD), have experienced a history of prejudice grounded in misconception and fear. While this trend is deeply rooted in our culture, physicians, researchers, addiction professionals, and other healthcare specialists are taking steps to debunk the myths surrounding disease to improve health on a global scale.
Is There a Relationship Between Social Media and Alcohol Use Disorder?
When you’re in a public space, chances are you – or someone next to you – is scrolling through their social media feed. Whether it’s Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or YouTube, use of social media is so commonplace it’s practically instinctual. According to Pew Research, 51% of U.S. adults visit Facebook several times a day, followed closely by Snapchat (49%) and Instagram (39%).