How would you locate resources in a community in which you have no relationships? GOOGLE with follow up phone calls and asking clients what resources they have used..
OK now for the real questions
1 Client under the influence is session?
I first would ask them what they used today, assure them that telling the truth this setting is very important due to possible medical emergency. If they can hold a conversation continue to have a discussion, if not I will ask them to go say down in one of our quiet/induction rooms. If they drive I always keep their keys and send them home by Uber or ask if there is someone to pick them up. In my many years I have only had to do this a few times and there was no argument from client.
2 Our agency serves Substance abuse population including providing MAT what interests you about serving this population?
I have been serving this population for many years. I see more now then ever before that people are going to school with a focus on substance abuse. I don’t think anyone wakes up one day and decides they want to do this, It is something that you gravitate to due to your own personal experiences or as in my case you fall upon it and love it. MAT prior to the “epidemic” was not something that was advertised, methadone and sever drugs for alcohol dependence were the only MAT used, MAT was frowned upon and people singled out due to their inability to practice “total abstinence” all that was mostly due to people not understanding addiction, even though that still exists in todays world the bottom line is now you can be standing next to someone on MAT and never know. It is by no means a cure like many think it is a tool used with therapy to make positive changes in live.
- How do you balance your work and personal life?
You have to learn to leave work at work. Practicing selfcare is often difficult for therapist due to the crisis and problems they deal with on a daily basis. Selfcare looks different for everyone at some time during each week you must take a timeout and do something that you enjoy and can concentrate on other than work. Therapists will often bring work home with them or worry about your clients however, you are no good to them if you don’t take care of yourself.
- What types of clients do you find the most difficult to works with and why?
Clients that develop severe mental illness due to drug use, they often have a hard time understanding that they do have MH issues and believe that if they stop using the symptoms such as paranoia, depression and anxiety will just go away. I have found in most cases these symptoms exacerbate before they get better. Having a person who has had a lifetime of substance use and does not believe MH is a problem are difficult due to the symptoms they present with even after sometimes a year or more of clean time changing behaviors and understanding the problem is the hard part about recovery, putting down the drug is the easy part.
- Tell me about the most difficult case you had to worked on.
I started at a methadone clinic and in the first week I had a client who was put in the clinic due to problems that she had in her last clinic, she was 24 weeks pregnant and was jumped by people from her clinic (reasons were sketchy) she was grieving the loss of her son who was born after she was beaten and passed within the first few hours of birth. She got out of the hospital but never asked about the baby, she said that she did not have money to do anything. About 4 weeks later she said that the morgue had been calling her and she did not know what to do. I contacted the social worker at the morgue and she told me about a program that would help with the arrangements for the baby, the client and I went to the morgue she claimed the body and burial arrangement were made at no cost to the client. She had the funeral she wanted for her baby. Unfortunately she never did learn about grief she relapsed after the funeral. For a long time I had the bag with everything from the hospital the babies birth and death certificates plus some other personal belongings she left in my office. I left them with my director when I left the job not sure what ever happened to her or the things.
- How do you handle an aggressive client?
I always focus on the clients strengths in order to change the subject of wherever the aggression is coming from, Join in the resistance rather than assault resistance. Shift discussion to the persons personal goals to change which will avert aggressive discussion and power struggle
