Substance Abuse Counseling Ethics

Personal Strengths
When it comes to the ACA code relating to substance abuse, the rules and guidelines are pretty clear. There is a high amount of expectations when it comes to ethics and doing the job in the right way. The ACA makes it quite clear that there are certain lines or boundaries that should not be crossed when it comes to counseling, substance abuse-related or otherwise. A wonderful item that the author found from the ACA would be the preamble to the ACA’s code of ethics. The precepts of this code include promotion of social justice, practicing in a competent and ethical manner and safeguarding the integrity of the counselor/client relationship (ACA, 2014).
Given the guidelines put forth by the ACA, there are certain characteristics that would obviously be optimal for counselors to have. One would be the ability to work with people of other cultures, religions, races, ethnicities or even gender. A good example that fits within that list would be people within the LGBT community. People of those groups are often cast aside and neglected when it comes to substance abuse or other mental/physical care. A good drug abuse counselor would be welcoming and open to helping anyone that has a drug habit they wish to get rid of. It should be about being welcoming, open and comforting to the people that need the help of the counselor. As the author of this response has grown and learned, the author has become very open to the idea of being completely fine with anyone’s background, biological characteristics and lifestyle. The one exception, of course, would be when others are being harmed. Of course, a proper substance abuse counseling regimen would, in part, address that very thing (Abbott & Chase, 2008).
As just indicated, a good strength that the author of this response has is that the author is very open to people of all backgrounds. So long as a patient has a desire to rid themselves of drug habits, there should be no discord or problems between the author and the patient. Another strength the author has is that the author knows that no two situations are the same. Beyond that, assuming anything about any patient is obviously less than wise. Even if there is a “gut” feeling about how a certain session or pattern of sessions will go, there should be no externalized presumptions or statements. The responses will guide the discussion as it moves along. However, that movement should not be biased, artificial or unfair.
What is hard for many people, drug counselors included, is that some drug addicts are selfish and nasty people. Even if it is a phase or temporary, it can be hard to work through a bias against such people. Indeed, there is a fine line between people that are simply lashing out and that are hurt and people that are just insidious. Even so, it is a challenge. Even if a patient says or does something that is clearly wrong and misguided, it is important that the author keeps things on an even keel and stays on the course that is necessary. This does not mean coddling or babying the client. However, reacting with venom and vitriol is not going to help either. Doing this in an effective way can sometimes run afoul of what is commonly held to be the meaning of the ACA’s ethics code and other ethical codes that are treasured and valued by the counseling community.
What is most important to remember, it would seem, is that there is good and evil when it comes to people. Further, people that do not wish to become clean or that are otherwise unready to become clean will almost certainly fail. The person has to want to become clean and they have to be willing to put in the effort. Beyond that, there will be many people that seemingly have the desire but they will still fall short. For all of the victories and triumphs that clients will have, there will be many other situations that are sad, if not tragic and deadly. It is part of doing the job and the author of this response is fully aware of this unending truth. Addiction is a scourge that will hopefully end at some point. For now, however, the work and dedication continue.
Article Analysis
The main point of the article being reviewed on this page is clear from the title. Indeed, there is absolutely a “cost” involved when it comes to the abuse of opioids in this country. One possible critique to this is that there are many “costs” that are not measurable or are not known about. Getting a general idea is obviously something that can and should be done. Further, there is little doubt that the cost is very high. Indeed, when there are people passed out in cars because they just shot up and morgues being filled up with overdose victims, there is a high cost. When Narcan is being used the truckload every year, there is certainly a problem. Even if pegging an exact total cost is hard to do, it is clear that the article is correct and prescient when it talks about healthcare costs. Even if the figure is on the small side, $55.7 billion is a lot of money to be lost on the abuse of one type of drug. That does not even include other abused drug classes like methamphetamine, benzos, etc. (Birnbaum et al, 2004).
A strength of the article is that the verified healthcare and workplace costs that are obviously attributable to opioid abuse are given in real and distinct numbers. A probable weakness is that the numbers are almost certainly low due to the effects that are not detected. Some of those missed costs can be measured in dollars while others cannot be. For example, there is a “cost” involved with a child being neglected and raised in a haphazard manner due to one or both of their custodial parents being drug addicts. Another strength of the article is that they focus what they can on three very important things. Those three things would be healthcare, the workplace and the criminal justice system. Given the massive amount of attention paid to the criminal treatment of drug dealers and drug users, it is important to know the full impacts, even if people disagree on the proper remedies to one or more of those problems. A final strength is that the layers of analysis and statistics are quite fine and drilled down (Birnbaum et al, 2004). Two areas to consider when it comes to substance abuse counseling would be any other concurrent issues that exist (e.g. mental illness, injury, etc.) as well as the factors and situations that drive the person to use drugs.
It is important to know that very few drug abuse counseling situations fit neatly together and work out easily. Just as with mental health counseling and other such things, it takes a lot of time and effort. It takes lifestyle changes, dedication and the creation of new habits for someone to get clean. The author of this reflection would say that following the prevailing ethical codes and standards is important. However, being self-aware and realistic is also important. The author will make sure to never stop learning or growing. This is something that people of all careers and persuasions should vie for.













References
Abbott, P., & Chase, D. (2008). Culture and Substance Abuse: Impact of Culture Affects
Approach to Treatment | Psychiatric Times. Psychiatrictimes.com. Retrieved 27
November 2017, from http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/articles/culture-and-substance-
abuse-impact-culture-affects-approach-treatment
ACA. (2014). 2014 ACA Code of Ethics. American Counseling Association. Retrieved 27
November 2017, from https://www.counseling.org/docs/default-source/ethics/2014-aca-
code-of-ethics.pdf?sfvrsn=fde89426_5
Birnbaum, H., Reynolds, J., Jetley, G., Zhang, M., & Vallow, S. (2004). Costs of prescription
opioid analgesic abuse in the United States in 2001: a societal perspective. Annals Of
Epidemiology, 14(8), 616-617. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.annepidem.2004.07.068