My Counseling Theory Paper
February 24, 2014
Professor: William Williams
Student: Brittany J. Muzzey

Muzzey 1

Counseling Setting It is my goal to become an Addiction Counselor at a long term residential program facility. Hopefully or more specifically I would like to be a Substance Abuse Counselor at The Jude House, Inc. I am currently working as a clinical assistant to all the current Substance Abuse Counselors.
Population I Intend to Work With The population at the Jude House is very diverse. We have people come through our doors from all walks of life. People come from the streets, people come from jail, we have gang members, Muslims, Christians, etc. Most of our clients though are in some type of legal situation which has caused them to be there or from jail where they have to successfully complete the program in order to stay out of jail. A lot of them are scared so it makes them come across as resentful or angry. I’ve learned to adapt to these situations and look beyond the negative attitudes to the real root of the problem. Showing these ladies and gentlemen that someone actually does care and understand turns most of their attitudes around fast. Show them compassion and they start to open up and trust (if they’re ready to get better). If the client is not ready to admit he/she has a substance abuse problem though their attitude will not change. Unfortunately these clients usually do not make it through the program the first time they are there.
Key Theoretical Concepts/Techniques I Intend to Use: After learning about, studying, and practicing in class the different counseling theories I have learned that almost each of the theories has techniques and ideas that I like and would use in my role as an Addictions Counselor. Eventually, I will probably experiment and try to use all the theories once I have practiced and learned them