Psychology Careers - Research Paper Example

He liked that idea too. Some of the questions were: Who is a substance abuse counselor? What is the qualification for being a substance abuse counselor? In what environment is the counseling conducted? Is it different from a general psychologist? If so, how? What are the usual practices of the substance abuse counseling? What typical challenges does a substance abuse counselor normally face and what is the best way to cope with them? What is group counseling and individual counseling? What is the average salary range for a substance abuse counselor?

My cousin told me that an individual at least needs to have a BSc degree in Psychology in order to be a substance abuse counselor, and the average salary for a substance abuse counselor ranges from $40,000 to $50,000. The interview was conducted in his office that was at a distance of about a kilometer from my home. I met him at around 10 o’ clock in the morning. It had been 1 hr since he had started the duty. I entered the room. We hugged each other since we were friends as well as relatives.

There was no formality at all, yet I was prudent not to waste his time in any manner since he was on the duty and I had come to him with a business matter, and not for a personal reason. As I had already forwarded him the list of questions the print out of which he had in front of him on the table, he started to explain himself without having me bother to ask the questions. He replied every single question of mine while I was taking the notes, and was writing questions that were popping up in my mind from the discussion as I wrote.

In the end, when he asked me if I had something else to ask him, I put forward all of those questions to which he promptly required. I thanked him, and wished him good-bye. I learned that a substance abuse counselor is an individual that helps people come out of their addictions. The interventions made by a substance abuse counselor may be staged. In other cases, counseling is offered to people who have yet to realize that their addiction is the root cause of a lot of troubles in their life. However, in most of the cases, substance abuse counselors offer counseling to the people who know that they are addicted and need treatment in order to come out of their problems before it is too late.

A general psychologist deals with all areas of psychology whereas a substance abuse counselor specifically deals with patients that are addicted with a wide range of products. Sometimes, patients are addicted to alcohol, yet in a vast majority of cases the product is much more harmful than alcohol like Heroin, Codeine, Cocaine and Vicodin. The environment in which substance abuse counselors work is no less varying than the substances they have to provide the counseling for. Some counselors offer treatment in the very residence of the patient, while others may conduct the counseling sessions in offices, churches, or other community outreach centers (Jones, 2011).

Thus, either a patient approaches the counselor or else, the counselor approaches patient. Counseling occurs either way as convenient to both the parties. The protocol that a substance abuse counselor mostly works in is established specifically for the treatment of addicts. A 12 Step Program is often used by the substance abuse counselors. Such programs are based upon twelve stages of treatment. Some of the most important of the twelve stages are “admitting powerlessness, turning to God, and making