by George Smith

Created on: February 28, 2009

Being employed at a Drug Treatment Center can be rewarding and stressful at the same time. The "Win's" are not yours nor are the LOSSES. It is up to the individual Client to do the work and you are to pave the way to freedom from drugs. What is easy for some is not for others. Gaining the spirituality and a higher power is a very personal thing, without it a person may stay sober for a year or even more but eventually they will backslide into their addiction. Honesty, Open-mindedness, and Willingness are concepts that seem simple but require a lot of soul searching and practice to achieve.

Most programs are Cognitive-Behavioral and attempt to change the way you think by controlling your behavior. There are rules and regulations for everything and to violate them means you may be thrown out on the street to do more research on your disease.

Tox testing clients each week is a real pain as many will try all sorts of appliances, tricks in switching samples, adding ingredients to dilute or nullify lab results or just procrastinate hoping you will forget about them and go on to the next person. I can not tell you how many times I have heard "you put that cocaine into my urine". Also," I was just riding in a car and they lit up a joint but I did not take any."

If a client makes it to the level where he or she is permitted to go into the community and get a job there is a whole new problem. Finances must be controlled and monitored as the first check will go right to the Dope man if the client is not working the program. When a person has no money to buy drugs with it is easy to stay sober.

Clients in rehab have what they call "Game" as they have manipulated the system, friends and family to get the drugs they need for so long that it comes as a second nature to them to attempt to incorporate that into their recovery. This job is not for the faint of heart or the Non-aggressive personality. You have to know when your being "Played" and to call the client on it.

Relapse or Burn-out is prevalent in this industry as you are under so much stress that the Rehab worker may use drugs himself to ease the pain and stress levels. An efficient program works as a team with constant communication between all departments. Leadership is the key role to running a successful Rehabiliation Program. Next is the Clinical Department who accesses the clients on intake and as they progress through the program insuring that Goals and milestones are all met. Groups and the employees that know how to facilitate them in an interesting manner are also of great importance.

If you are planning to work at such a facility then good luck to you. It will be the best or the worst job that you ever had.

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