Customer Reviews

Counseling for Relapse Prevention

5 star:		(2)
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2 star:		(1)
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As a substance abuse counseling intern, this book has given me tremendous insight into the best approaches for my clients regarding triggers and other warning signs of relapse.
It also has a section on the immediate family and how important it is for them to seek help, as no one
recovers in isolation.

As the previous reviewer, I too was a counseling intern studying to learn how to help alcoholics and addicts enter recovery...and make a success of it. This was the standard at the time. It has outlived its usefulness. The techniques - especially the exhaustive identification of potentially harmful situations, focus on warning signs and triggers are beyond the education level of some clients, and certainly beyond the ability of general population in either corrections, inpatient or outpatient treatment to understand and utilize effectively (though this is not necessarily the fault of the Gorski Model but more a comment on the declining education level of the average consumer of treatment services). After 11 plus years of practice, I find the solution focused approach more in keeping with the short term focus of both the referring agencies (biggest bang for the smallest pay) and the short attention span noted above. It is time for a revolution in the way that we treat addiction. This method has lost the race against time and the decline of treatment dollars (and the willingness of the average tax payer or insurance company to pay for a problem that features one of the highest rates of recidivism in the field of behavioral health). If you are a new treatment professional, focus on solution oriented approaches and get a solid grounding in some of the newer cognitive behavioral pracitices - dialectical behavior therapy and ACT to name but two. Above all don't neglect your own recovery...leading a therapy group, teaching psycho education class or doing a relapse prevention group is not a substitute for a healthy involvement in your own recovery.

I work in a youth treatment center (males ages 13-20). This book is informative and useful in letting them have a realistic idea of what they face in the future. They find everyday situations they will face, insight into "triggers", situations to avoid. I try to find information wherever I can and this was definately worth the price and the time to go through it. It's definately helping to make a difference.