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...

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…