Topic: counseling

It’s not just what you present to your client — it’s how you present it. By following a few simple rules, you get better results. It’s not a perfect system, by any means. But it should improve outcomes.

Call it a bribe, call it an incentive, call it a clever idea… Giving a reluctant client a reason to comply can help treatment along.

Wasn’t it Archimedes who promised that given a lever long enough and a place to stand, he would move the world? In using leverage, think of credibility as the place you stand.

Some members are talkative enough, but others participate minimally and a couple are openly hostile and challenging.

As a professional, you have an agenda to fulfill. So too does the addict. His agenda is very different, but he’s even more committed to it.

Resentments can damage recovery. And the worst damage is done by the most justified resentments.

My outpatients get discouraged very easily. They may actually be doing pretty well for somebody new to recovery, but they don’t seem to realize it.

I recall one professor airily informing his class that recovering counselors had an ‘agenda’.

I wasn’t trained in how to incorporate material about faith and God into counseling. Most of my graduate school education was on traditional social work practice.