Part 1
On the 1 st of July 2018, I attended an Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) support group meeting at 8 p.m. The meeting was open to the public and was held at 704E Robinson Street in Crestview, Florida.
Part 2
Over the course of the group meeting, I observed the wide-ranging impacts of an alcohol abuse disorder on an individual’s life problems. One of the key impacts highlighted by an individual who had an alcohol abuse disorder included a notable neglect of vital duties and responsibilities on his part. Whether at work or at home, the individual stated that he found it increasingly hard to accomplish important duties courtesy of alcohol abuse. This inability to complete important duties necessitated his father to help him find a support group and ultimately he enlisted at Alcoholics Anonymous. It is worth noting that the neglect for core duties and responsibilities associated with alcohol abuse is a direct result of the cognitive impairment caused by prolonged alcohol abuse ( Piumatti, Moore, Berridge, Sarkar, & Gallacher, 2018). The individual also stated that his alcohol abuse disorder had seen him register a significant decline in his productivity at work. Prior to his alcohol abuse problem, the individual had a significantly higher rate of productivity at the factory where he worked. In addition, he stated that the alcohol abuse disorder had affected his productivity since he spent more time nursing hangovers, as opposed to working. Verster (2008) notes that alcohol abuse impacts a person's on-the-job performance. During the meeting, the individual also asserted that the hangovers resulted in other unhealthy behaviors, key among them being poor eating habits, as well as irregular sleeping patterns.
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As I sat among the group participants, I noted that the participants were engaged in their recovery goals to maintain sobriety in various ways. A key example of how participants were engaged in their recovery goals is the restoration of positive relationships. A majority of participants in the support group had negative relationships with friends, as well as close family members prior to their admission into the support group. Notably, the severed relationships not only created a sense of loneliness in the individuals, they also exacerbated their alcohol abuse problem. As a consequence, the individuals sought to restore one relationship after the other with the goal of creating positive relationships that are pivotal to their support and ultimate recovery from alcohol addiction. A key part of rebuilding the formerly severed relationships included establishing a line of communication with each friend and family member. Another key example of how group participants were engaged in their recovery goals to maintain sobriety is the commitment to engage in at least two positive actions per day, the goal being to cultivate positivity in their lives. The positive actions included journaling, exercising, jogging, praying, meditating, and cooking.
There are two specific actions that a counselor can take to help someone with a substance use disorder be successful. One such action is the creation of a therapeutic relationship with the client. Such relationships allow individuals with a substance abuse disorder to trust their counselors with intimate details of their problems, paving way for a more successful intervention. Following the establishment of a therapeutic relationship between the client and the counselor, the counselor can then initiate a 12-step facilitative therapy. Donovan, Ingalsbe, Benbow & Daley (2013), posit that the steps set out in facilitative therapy specify that drug and substance abusers should acknowledge their helplessness over substances and drugs, make a moral assessment of themselves, come to terms with the magnitude of their past missteps, identify people with whom they have a severed relationship and rebuild the relationships. Another key action that a counselor can take to help someone with a substance use disorder be successful is to meet with the client’s close family members, as well as friends. It is worth noting that close family members play a crucial role in the recovery process of a former alcohol or drug addict. This is primarily because they spend a lot of time with the recovering addict and as such, they are best placed to ensure that the individual adheres to the set-out recovery plan. In addition, close family members, as well as friends form a support system for the client that helps prevent the possibility of a relapse.
For a successful recovery, the client should identify at least two goals. One such goal includes complete recovery from substance abuse, with a view to leading a sober life. The second key goal of treatment for substance addiction is the is the avoidance of a relapse. Notably, this goal may be met through the establishment of a relapse prevention plan that incorporates a solid support system from friends, as well as close family members. There exist several examples of actions a counselor might use to assist someone with a substance use disorder address self-defeating behaviors towards their recovery process. First, the counselor might help the client combat self-defeating behaviors such as an unwillingness on the part of the patient to change by encouraging patient recovery. This process entails motivating the patient and showing them the need for recovery, the inherent difficulty of recovery notwithstanding. Second, the counselor might help the patient overcome self-defeating behaviors by helping the patient identify the self-defeating behaviors and subsequently coming up with a strategy that would enable the patient to address each self-defeating behavior. In addition, the counselor could go further and meet the patient's close family members and give them guidelines that would help them monitor the patient's adherence to the set-out strategies.
References
Donovan, D. M., Ingalsbe, M. H., Benbow, J., & Daley, D. C. (2013). 12-step interventions and mutual support programs for substance use disorders: An overview. Social Work in Public Health , 28 (3-4), 313-332.
Piumatti, G., Moore, S. C., Berridge, D. M., Sarkar, C., & Gallacher, J. (2018). The relationship between alcohol use and long-term cognitive decline in middle and late life: a longitudinal analysis using UK Biobank. Journal of Public Health .
Verster, J. C. (2008). The alcohol hangover–a puzzling phenomenon. Alcohol & Alcoholism , 43 (2), 124-126.
