Week 12- Advocacy

What does it mean to you to advocate for clients and challenge bias? How do you feel about taking on that role? Is that a role you expected to take on as a counselor? Are there some groups for whom it would be harder or easier for you to advocate for? Does that reflect on your own beliefs and values? How so?

Working as a job coach, everyday I am advocating for my clients and challenging the biases that clients hold about themselves as well as potential employers. Sometimes my clients don’t believe that they are capable of working and finding a job. Empowering clients first to try and then to believe in themselves enough to persevere through challenges at work with supports. This part of my job is the most rewarding, but it is only possible when I am able to make positive partnerships with potential employers who are understanding and willing to go through the process of working with an employee with a job coach. A part of that role requires educating employers about government incentives to hiring individuals with disabilities along with government regulations regarding reasonable accommodations. This is a role that I take on with this job but I do not separate it from the role I will take as a counselor. Employment is an important part of clients recovery because it provides them with a source of pride along with a sense of belonging and contributing to the community. This is a difficult group to advocate for because of the bottom line driven focus of business that can sometimes overlook the needs and talents of individuals with disabilities. Specifically advocating for individuals with mental health issues can be particularly difficult because of the negative stigma that still lingers and is gaining increased traction in our society about mental health.  Education and sharing success stories has been helpful in getting employers to understand the rewarding experience that is possible when working with an employee who is affiliated with a mental health agency and has a job coach.

Session 11

• What were your attitudes toward use of substances when you were a child and an adolescent?

I would say that I really didn’t start to form my own attitudes about the use of substances until around the end of middle school. As a younger child I believed that drugs were bad and ruined people’s lives. I still believed that as a teen, but my attitude began to accept and understand the shades of gray. I began to understand that not everyone who used drugs was an addict or drank was an alcoholic. It all came down to the who, what, when, and where that can complicate understandings. This was a good complication however, because I began to learn more about adults in my life who used substances but were not in need of treatment and were fully functional and successful in their lives. Looking back I can say that they were definitely addicted to their substances of choice (mostly marijuana and alcohol) without the damaging consequences of addiction as we know it.

 

• What was your personal and peer group experience of substance use? How are your views the same or different now? What might it feel like to work with clients making different choices, or to encourage choices that you did not make?

I personally knew people who smoked marijuana and drank underage. I knew of people who used hard drugs like cocaine that I thought were scary. I think that created the distinction that I hold today when it comes to substance use. I believe there are some drugs that are destructive by design that I stay away from at all costs and would encourage the same to others. When working with clients who are making different choices I will feel compelled and even obligated to help them through the process of identifying problems and working towards change if they believe and can acknowledge that their substance use is damaging to themselves or others.

 

• Who advised you about drugs and alcohol, and when? What was your response? What encouraged or discouraged use in the approaches you encountered? What do you hope to emulate or discard from your models?

My first teachers about drugs and alcohol was probably D.A.R.E in elementary school. We didn’t have the presentation by trained police officers. All we had was a banner with the logo D.A.R.E to resist drugs and violence. What discouraged use most strongly were the great role models at my school who encouraged excellence in their students. We were all told the basics about drugs being bad and destructive but was most lasting for me was all the encouragement and support I received to reach for my goals. Education about drugs and their effects is important and can be boosted with encouragement of achievement.