Applying the strength-based perspective to heroin addiction treatment

Introduction
The strength-based perspective is rooted in the idea that individuals have strengths and resources that can be used to assist them in their recovery process (Climie & Mastoras, 2015). The idea behind this approach stems from notion that human beings are resilient and capable of self-determination. According to Maslow’s (1943) theory of human motivation and the hierarchy of needs model that he proposed, individuals can attain a quality of self-actualization so long as they have their lower level needs met first—such as food, shelter, security, love, friendship and esteem. Each of these lower level needs provides a support for the person as he or she climbs up the ladder of development towards self-determination. This paper will examine the issue of heroin addiction and show how a social worker can apply the strength-based perspective to help the heroin addict deal with and overcome the addiction.
The Strength-Based Perspective
Part of the way that a social worker can help a heroin addict deal with the addiction is to focus on the resources available to the addict and find ways that these can serve as supports. The Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT, 1998) showed that the strength-based approach has been used in helping drug addicts in the past for a variety of reasons—“not only for its focus on resource acquisition but also because it helps clients see their own assets as a valuable part of recovery.” For a social worker, the strength-based perspective offers a series of steps to follow when assisting in the treatment process for a heroin addict.
The strength-based perspective originated in the University of Kansas School of Social Welfare. The aim of the perspective was to help social workers assist people suffering from mental illness move from institutional care to autonomous living (CSAT, 1998). The perspective rests on two principles: “(1) providing clients support for asserting direct control over their search for resources, such as housing and employment, and (2) examining clients' own strengths and assets as the vehicle for resource acquisition” (CSAT, 1998). These two principles can be applied by the social worker when assisting the heroin addict.
Heroin Addiction
Heroin addiction is a particularly strong addiction that can be very difficult for users to break. The goal for a social worker is to turn the challenge of breaking the addiction into an opportunity for the individual to grow in a new direction. Just as a company will conduct a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis before making a decision about its future, the social worker can help the addict conduct a SWOT analysis of his or her own life.
Addiction is a major weakness, and heroin addiction is one of the worst. Overcoming this addiction depends on more than simply cutting out usage of the drug—it depends upon changing one’s entire life and outlook on life. This may seem quite difficult at first, but that is where the strength-based perspective comes into play. It can be used to help the addict see how weakness is really an opportunity to move in a new direction, away from the weakness and towards the strengths that the addict has. The social worker must help the heroin addict identify these strengths by conducting a thorough review of the addict’s life, background and resources with the addict.
How to Deal
Practical steps need to be taken—such as identifying where can the heroin addict live where he or she will have a strong support network in place to prevent relapse. The review of the addict’s human and emotional capital can help identify a place to live, a job to obtain, and family members that can be relied upon to assist with support.
Another step involves helping the addict to identify what personal strengths, traits, qualities, skills, or characteristics the addict possesses that can be used to move the addict in a new life direction. The movement in a new life direction is particularly important because the addict has to essentially abandon the old life of drug use and everything that went with it—the old friends associated with the drug, the old habits, the lifestyle, the mentality, the routine—all of it has to go. The new life direction has to find a new center—a new focus and that focus has to be strength (a talent, skill, or quality possessed by the addict), not weakness (heroin dependency).
Questions to ask the addict to help identify personal strengths include: Are you a good speaker? Do you like to motivate or help others? What activities are you good at? What skills have others always complimented you on? Do you have a passion project in mind? Do you like to read or write?