The Professional as Target: Being Manipulated
Everybody who works successfully with substance users learns to set and hold good boundaries. These protect the work of treatment, and guard against manipulation on the part of the addict or alcoholic....
View ArticleWhy Addicts Manipulate
Addicts are known for manipulating other people to get what they want. It’s usually put down to psychopathology. But to the active addict, it’s simply the price of doing business. Imagine you awoke one...
View ArticleMy Counselors are Being Manipulated!
I run a small outpatient clinic that treats mainly criminal justice clients. It seems like my counselors are always being manipulated by the clients. Every week there’s a PO on the phone complaining...
View ArticleUsing Leverage in Counseling the Court-Referred Client, Part 4
Helping a Client Make Difficult Decisions When your client is faced with a difficult decision –committing to a treatment program, for instance, or signing up for an extended stay in a residential...
View ArticleBuilding Blocks of Motivation
Motivation vs. Unmotivation, Part Two There are three barriers to real motivation. I’m not talking about the motivation to go to detox, or placate the judge, boss or family. I’m talking about the sort...
View ArticleA Simple Test
Motivation vs. Unmotivation, Part Three There are instruments available to help assess client motivation for change, but you can also rely on three simple questions. First: why are you here? The answer...
View ArticleThe Active and the Passive
Motivation vs. Unmotivation, Part Five In practice, we can divide those resistant ‘Type 1’s’ into two categories: Active and Passive. The Actives are openly objecting to treatment. The Passive sort...
View ArticleHidden Agendas
Motivation vs. Unmotivation, Part Six It’s not uncommon for someone to arrive in treatment with an agenda that’s quite different from the one he professes– something he’s attempting to hide from view....
View ArticleExamining Goals and Assumptions
Motivation vs. Unmotivation, Part Seven At the risk of repeating myself: I believe that the most important question in addiction counseling is also the most fundamental. And that is, does the addict/...
View ArticleHow Easy am I to Manipulate?
Part One: How and Why Addicts Do It “How easy am I to manipulate?” It’s a good question and one that we all wind up asking ourselves. The answer can make a big difference when it comes to dealing with...
View ArticleChanging the Tipping Point
Counselors are often asked how they identify progress in their addicted clients. A former colleague boiled it down nicely: “I look for signs that the client is becoming more afraid of the disease than...
View ArticleWhy Addicts Manipulate
Addicts are known for manipulating other people to get what they want. It’s usually put down to psychopathology. But to the active addict, it’s simply the price of doing business. Imagine you awoke one...
View ArticleMy Counselors are Being Manipulated!
I run a small outpatient clinic that treats mainly criminal justice clients. It seems like my counselors are always being manipulated by the clients. Every week there’s a PO on the phone complaining...
View ArticleUsing Leverage in Counseling the Court-Referred Client, Part 4
Helping a Client Make Difficult Decisions When your client is faced with a difficult decision –committing to a treatment program, for instance, or signing up for an extended stay in a residential...
View ArticleBuilding Blocks of Motivation
Motivation vs. Unmotivation, Part Two There are three barriers to real motivation. I’m not talking about the motivation to go to detox, or placate the judge, boss or family. I’m talking about the sort...
View ArticleA Simple Test
Motivation vs. Unmotivation, Part Three There are instruments available to help assess client motivation for change, but you can also rely on three simple questions. First: why are you here? The answer...
View ArticleThe Active and the Passive
Motivation vs. Unmotivation, Part Five In practice, we can divide those resistant ‘Type 1’s’ into two categories: Active and Passive. The Actives are openly objecting to treatment. The Passive sort...
View ArticleHidden Agendas
Motivation vs. Unmotivation, Part Six It’s not uncommon for someone to arrive in treatment with an agenda that’s quite different from the one he professes– something he’s attempting to hide from view....
View ArticleExamining Goals and Assumptions
Motivation vs. Unmotivation, Part Seven At the risk of repeating myself: I believe that the most important question in addiction counseling is also the most fundamental. And that is, does the addict/...
View ArticleHow Easy am I to Manipulate?
Part One: How and Why Addicts Do It “How easy am I to manipulate?” It’s a good question and one that we all wind up asking ourselves. The answer can make a big difference when it comes to dealing with...
View Article
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