ADDICTION COUNSELOR ROLES AND COMPETENCIES

The patient may be outpatient or inpatient depending on the severity of the addiction. The addiction counselors have specific roles they play and should be competent enough to carry out the functions effectively. The purpose for counselor competency is so as to help in advising, supervision, and assessment of the patient (TAP 21, 2015). Roles of An Addiction Counselor The core roles of an addiction counselor according to TAP 21 include screening which is the process of determining the appropriateness and eligibility of admission of a patient to a particular program. The criteria are evaluating physiological, psychological and social symptoms of abuse of drug and alcohol. The counselor does this by gathering relevant information about the patient’s history of alcohol and drug abuse by interviewing the patient appropriately.

Also, he should find other ways of obtaining relevant information about the patient from secondary sources. He should also explain to the patient the general use of assessment in order to make them understand. Lastly, in this role, the counselor should be able to provide an evaluation of diagnostics in order to determine the treatment plan of the patient (Loverde, 2013) The counselor then plans for treatment of the patient after identifying together with the patient the problems and their ranking in order of immediate attention and resolution. After planning, he then decides on the suitable treatment process and the resources to be used (Lovered, 2013). The process of the patient’s recovery is not smooth and cannot be realized by the patient alone.