Proposal for Family Involvement in Alcohol and Drug Counseling

The paper proposes the inclusion of family in alcohol and drug counseling to enhance the relationship between clients and their families. The effectiveness of counseling methods like motivational interviewing, cognitive behavioral therapy, and TeWhare Tapa Wha Model are discussed. The paper also evaluates the change using SWOT analysis.

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Professional Leadership Practice

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Introduction
The aim of the paper is to propose an area of change as a counsellor in alcohol and drug
service. As a counselor I come across many people who are or have at some point of time been
into alcohol or drug addictions and they feel the need of effective counseling. There are different
ways in which the counseling could be made more effective and client centered to suit their
needs which have been identified in this paper. The paper also discusses the usefulness of the
tools like SWOT analysis which will help in implementing the change.
Proposed area of change
I, being the counsellor would like to lead a change in the treatment approach in order to
include the family. As a counsellor, I try to create awareness among the individuals and promote
the fact that drinking and taking drugs is not at all good for health. In addition, even if an
individual consumes alcohol, it is important for him or her to be in their limits. According to my
idea, I feel that an individual should always be supported by family and relatives in this
competition of living a good quality of life. I want to propose a change of creating family
involvement in the therapies and cures provided.
There are various types of counseling methods which include behavioral therapy, family
therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, motivational interviewing and many more. The below
section discusses the effectiveness of some methods.
Motivational Interviewing- It is one of the counselling methods, which is thereby known
as ruling, client-centered style of counselling which in turn helps customers to discover and
resolve inconsistency. This is useful as the family members also understand and relate with the

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change taking place in the client through their self-discovery and gradual changes. Motivational
theory helps in changing the behavior of the clients. (Markland, Ryan, Tobin & Rollnick, 2005).
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy- It is also one of the counselling tactics which focusses on
improving the psychological health and therefore emphasizes helps the client to get over his/ her
misinterpretations arising in the process of reasoning, thinking, remembering, etc. It is very
important to be committed as counselors so that they can be meet the challenges and cater to the
unprecedented changes in the health needs of their clients. (Shanafelt & Noseworthy, 2017)
TeWhare Tapa Wha Model- It is one such model where the Maori viewpoint is
dependent towards health on a wellness or all-inclusive health model. This ‘Whare Tapa Wha’
model can be used as a clinical tool for assessment as well. (Rochford, 2004). It helps the clients
to believe in the four simple beliefs of life which in turn improves the lifestyle of the individuals.
Justification for area of change
Being a counselor, I have chosen such an area for change where the families play a very
important role physically and mentally supporting their near and dear ones. I have observed in
my counselling practice that there is no engagement of families in the treatment approach where
individuals undergoing the rehabilitation process and feel depressed and lonely and majority of
them try to run away from the situation. This is why I think involvement of families and friends
are significant as their presence might motivate them to undergo the process smoothly and
thereby might encourage them to live a peaceful and healthy life. In addition, the involvement of
families will also enhance the relationship between them and thereby will also improve their
status. The counselor is actually a leader and so they also need to be moral philosophers to guide
their clients. (Kempster, Jackson & Conroy, 2011). Moreover in the works of many authors it is

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also stated that, the effectiveness of families is significant in the treatment process as it
encourages them to do better and complete the entire procedure so that in future, they can get rid
of these addictions easily.
Purpose to connect with family
As a counsellor, I strongly believe that the clients who undergo such treatments can
easily connect with their families and thereby bringing families in such situation would benefit
the customers in their treatment process and they might recover very quickly as well. The
purpose for connecting family with clients will also help them to enhance their relationship and
make it healthier. Along with professionalism there must be commitment from the counselors to
navigate through the changing environment in health care. (Shanafelt & Noseworthy, 2017). In
addition, the involvement of families will reduce the isolation of the clients and thereby they feel
more supported and energetic due to their engagement of families and friends in the treatment
approach. The ideologies of a leader, the control dialectics and the resistance are important in the
profession of a counselor. (Alvesson & Spicer, 2012). According to Rochford (2004), the health
system needs to be integrated so that it can have a control over the health requirements and
provide adequate services. The clients due to their family’s involvement might not take any
extreme steps like running away from such rehabilitation centers. Many authors working in the
field of psychology state that the clients would rather be more motivated and prepared for any
type of process for the betterment of their health. The clients would be ready to face any difficult
situation because they know that their families are with them at every stage of life. The impact
exerted by treatment helps the client to develop his/ her personality. (Craske, 2010).

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SWOT analysis
SWOT analysis is such a tool which will help me in identifying, evaluating and reflecting
on this area of change (Blockeel, et.al, 2016) In addition, this tool will enable me in recognizing
the strengths, weaknesses, opportunity and threats of such change and will also help in
identifying how the weaknesses can be covered.
Strength- One of the strengths of proposing such change is that the clients and their
family members will be able to connect with each other openly and freely. This in turn will
enhance the relationship and thereby the family members can motivate the clients to undergo the
process smoothly. The anxiety disorders and much more can be resolved by thorough and
productive counseling. (Craske, 2010).
Weaknesses- The major disadvantage of family involvement is that the client might feel
emotionally weak and they might not want to continue their therapy. This could be a hindrance
in the path of their health life.
Opportunities- The family can encourage the client to continue their continuous therapy
so that they can soon return to their normal path of life. As a counselor one can turn the
negativities into positivity and motivate their clients to quit all addictions and lead a productive
and healthy life.
Threats- The involvement of the family in the therapeutic treatment and counseling
would curtail the freedom of the client. This could make the client exhausted and tired of life.
There are different theories which justify these threats as there might be some hidden or covered
threats under the main process of treatment involving the family. (Argyris, 1977).

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Reflect on change
In reflection, the involvement of the family is necessary in the treatment procedure as this
helps the families and the clients to make their bond stronger. In addition, the change will also
boost up the morale of the individuals and will never let them to feel lonely or isolated. Such
change might just help the client to recover from their addiction and lead a healthy and safety
life.
Evaluation of change
The change can be brought about by the various types of activities involving the clients
and their family members. This activity based counseling in turn will make them feel good and
fresh and thereby they might not suffer from depression. Such family engagement will also
enable the clients to be more motivated, focused and therefore their relationship will also grow
stronger and healthier. There are many areas of critical analysis where the counselors need to
consider the contemporary perspectives. (Carroll, Ford & Taylor, 2015). Families are the best
part of anyone’s life and thereby earlier these families were not involved in such treatment
process. Therefore, such change in the lives of the individual will benefit and make their
relationship stronger.
Conclusion
As a counsellor, I have observed that the involvement of families in the lives of the
clients prepare them better for undergoing the therapeutic treatment process. This makes their
life more healthy and productive. It has also been observed that the clients do not feel weak or
depressed rather they are more vigorous when they spend time with their families in a positive
and motivating atmosphere.

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