Drug Counseling Video #4 Treatment Planning.
Treatment planning for drug and alcohol counseling. Planning for treatment of all the parts of the client’s life that have been affected by a drug and alcohol use disorder. Services the drug program will provide, and services to which the client will be referred. The difference between referrals and linkages. Consent to release confidential information. Referrals and consultation.
By David Joel Miller, MS, Licensed Therapist & Licensed Counselor.
Procrastination.
Having an unpleasant chore hanging over your head creates a lot of stress. Doing things that are unpleasant now for a future benefit tends to get put off. Putting off that unpleasant chore and dealing with what is hanging over your head uses up a lot of energy. You’re only going to have so much willpower, and when it’s gone, nothing gets accomplished. By doing the hard thing first, you make the rest of your day that much easier. Completing a task you didn’t want to do can give you a feeling of accomplishment and make you feel extra productive. With that one big thing off your list, you can breeze through several smaller chores.
If you’re one of those people who is most productive first thing in the day, but your productivity drops off as the day progresses, consider breaking your day into two segments. When you come back from lunch or shortly after that, revise your to-do list. Crossing off the things you’ve already completed will give you a sense of accomplishment. Begin the second part of your day by tackling the remaining “hardest to do” task.
If a new challenging project has cropped up, you can get it out of the way while you still have some energy rather than carrying it over until a tomorrow, which may never arrive. This two-part day will leave you with primarily smaller, easier-to-do things to tackle at the end of your day when your energy is running low.
When we are faced with large projects, they seem overwhelming. It’s natural to procrastinate when you’re overwhelmed. Breaking a large project into smaller parts allows you to whittle that project down to a manageable size. Tackle the overwhelming the same way you would eat an elephant, one bite at a time.
Your day can slip by in those short 10-minute intervals between other things. When you have 10 or 15 minutes left before the next thing you need to do, or the place you need to go, set a time challenge. Don’t tell yourself you don’t have enough time. Ask yourself how much of this project can I get done in these 10 or 15 minutes that I have available to work on my project.
Close your email browser. Turn off your cell phone. Close the door to your office if you can. When I’m writing, I wear a pair of headphones playing relaxing background music. This keeps me from being distracted by conversations and sounds in the environment. If you’re only going to have 10 minutes to work on something, give it your full attention.
Trying to do everything perfectly can result in you getting nothing accomplished. The illusion that you need to write a perfect book has kept many a would-be writer from ever finishing their book. Some things only need to be good enough. Productive writers know that they must start by producing a messy, imperfect first draft before they have something to revise and edit. Ask yourself just how perfect this project needs to be. Invest your time and energy into the important things rather than trying to do less critical tasks perfectly.
The idea that you can “make time” to do something you have been putting off is a mirage. There’s no way to make any more time. Each week consists of 168 hours. If you want to be financially stable, you need a money budget. If you’re going to be productive, you need to budget your time. You may be able to borrow money, but you can’t borrow time and pay it back next week. Create a time budget. Invest a little of your time each day into getting something accomplished, and at the end of the week, you can see how small investments of time compound.
Focusing on how much you must do and how hard it will be to do it uses up a lot of time that could be better spent working on the tasks at hand. Narrow your vision to the one thing on your to-do list. Get as much done on that thing as you can, using the time and resources you have. If you tell yourself you can’t do something, you won’t be able to do it. Tell yourself you can do it and watch what can happen.
Announce your projects to the world. Tell a friend. Tell your family. Tell someone at work. Once you’ve announced that you are going to do something positive, peer pressure will increase your motivation to get it done. When we tell ourselves what we are going to do, it’s easy to lie to ourselves. When you have told someone else what you plan to do, there’s an extra incentive to get it done.
If you’re the type of person who works best in chunks, block off an afternoon or a day, and challenge yourself to see how much you can get done when you work on one thing and only that one thing for a set period. I sign up each year for NaNoWriMo (the National Novel Writing Month contest), I commit to trying to write a 50,000-word novel during the 30 days of November. Having that self-imposed deadline has resulted in my finishing novels three years in a row. These novels are first drafts and need a lot of revision, but participating in these writing marathons gets something accomplished.
Most people procrastinate because they have too many things on their to-do list. Why you procrastinate is not as important as learning how to put an end to the procrastination monster. Learn to say no. Scratch some things off that to-do list. Make it a point to decide what’s important and do that first. Once you’ve simplified your to-do list, apply some of the anti-procrastination tips in this blog post, and watch your productivity soar.
Recommended Mental Health Books
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Staying connected with David Joel Miller
Seven David Joel Miller Books are available now!
My newest book is now available. It was my opportunity to try on a new genre. I’ve been working on this book for several years, but now seems like the right time to publish it.
Story Bureau is a thrilling Dystopian Post-Apocalyptic adventure in the Surviving the Apocalypse series.
Baldwin struggles to survive life in a post-apocalyptic world where the government controls everything.
As society collapses and his family gets plunged into poverty, Baldwin takes a job in the capital city, working for a government agency called the Story Bureau. He discovers the Story Bureau is not a benign news outlet but a sinister government plot to manipulate society.
Bumps on the Road of Life. Whether you struggle with anxiety, depression, low motivation, or addiction, you can recover. Bumps on the Road of Life is the story of how people get off track and how to get their life out of the ditch.
Dark Family Secrets: Doris wants to get her life back, but small-town prejudice could shatter her dreams.
Casino Robbery Arthur Mitchell escapes the trauma of watching his girlfriend die. But the killers know he’s a witness and want him dead.
Planned Accidents: The second Arthur Mitchell and Plutus mystery.
Letters from the Dead: The third in the Arthur Mitchell mystery series.
What would you do if you found a letter to a detective describing a crime, and you knew the writer and detective were dead, and you could be next?
Sasquatch. Three things about us, you should know. One, we have seen the past. Two, we’re trapped there. Three, I don’t know if we’ll ever get back to our own time.
For these and my upcoming books, please visit my Author Page – David Joel Miller
Want the latest blog posts as they publish? Subscribe to this blog.
For videos, see: Counselorssoapbox YouTube Video Channel
Impulsive.
Photo courtesy of Pixabay.com
Impulsive.
Sunday Inspiration. Post by David Joel Miller.
“Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together.”
― Vincent Van Gogh
“Men are driven by two principal impulses, either by love or by fear.”
― Niccolò Machiavelli, The Discourses
“…our impulses are too strong for our judgment sometimes”
― Thomas Hardy, Tess of the D’Urbervilles
Wanted to share some inspirational quotes with you. Today seemed like a good time to do this. There are an estimated 100,000 words in the English language that are feelings related. Some emotions are pleasant, and some are unpleasant, but all feelings can provide useful information. If any of these quotes strike a chord with you, please share them.
Look at these related posts for more on this topic and other feelings.
Drug Counseling Video #3 Clinical Evaluation.
Drug Counseling, Clinical Evaluation, Screening, Assessment, and Crisis Intervention. In drug counseling when is assessment done? Types of assessment, how to assess. The two types of collateral and why it may be important. Diagnosis of drug use disorders. Recognizing behavioral addictions.
By David Joel Miller, MS, Licensed Therapist & Licensed Counselor.
No Power?
Photo courtesy of Pixabay.com
Ever wish you had more power? Would you like to be more in control of your own life? Do you feel helpless to change your life? There are ways to increase your power, be more effective, and have more of the things you want in life.
No matter how much or how little power you feel you have today, you can begin to grow that sense of personal power, step by step, starting today.
You may have learned to be helpless, been in a situation where no matter what you did, you were told you were wrong. Your efforts may have been invalidated and unrewarded. People may have taught you to be helpless. If you learned to be helpless you can unlearn that way of thinking.
Right now, what are you doing to enlarge your feelings of personal power? If not today, when will you begin to take control of your life? Here are some ways to grow that personal power.
If you focus only on the areas that are out of your control, you become debilitated and paralyzed. Focus on your choices.
When you think you have no control, you make it so. You may be in a situation where you are dependent on others. You have more control than you think. You may not be able to control your situation or surroundings, but you can control your attitude. You can think like a victim, or you can think like a survivor and be a participant in your life.
If you are in a low power situation, an abusive relationship, or poverty, look for resources that can help you. Teachers, counselors, or mentors can help you to grow your power.
Can’t find a person to help you? Look for books on changing your life.
Look for areas in your life where you can decide for yourself. Large or small, it does not matter, begin the process of thinking about how you feel about things and what you want. Cultivate the habit of making as many decisions about your life as possible. Especially pay attention to how you feel about things. If you feel helpless you may be giving up your power to someone else without even noticing you are giving your control away.
Are you going for ice cream? Look for a new flavor to try. You may like it. You may not. Check off that one from your to-do list. The more experiences you have in life, the more you can adapt to change. Like it or not change is a part of life. Doing a wider variety of activities increases your sense of competency.
This is a great way to try on new behaviors. In 12 step groups, people will become secretaries of meetings or chair a meeting. The experience of trying on a new behavior can increase your self-confidence. You may surprise yourself with how well you can do something.
In many residential treatment facilities, the group selects client officials. Each week as clients come and go, these officials change. Clients frequently tell me this was the first time in their lives they have been in a leadership role. They discover talents they never knew they had.
Taking good care of yourself is not being selfish. You can’t be of service to others if you don’t have it to give. Self-care is important. Making yourself a priority tells you that you are worth being cared for. Feeling good about yourself, knowing you mater will enlarge your sense of personal power and control of your life.
Find something that brings joy to your life. Do you have a favorite author? Which sports team is “your” team? Do you crochet? Do you cook Italian? What interest or activity says, “you?” What is your religion or spiritual connection? Feeling that there is something you connect to makes you feel more anchored, more a part of the community.
You’re going to spend your whole life with you. Invest some time in getting to know you.
Expanding your skills is a great way to make you feel more competent and useful. Is there something you always wanted to try? If not now, when will you do this? Look for someone in your life who has this skill and ask them to teach you. Go to places where people who have this skill hang out and learn from them. Clubs, online blogs, and short-term classes are all great sources of information. Stores sometimes teach courses on how to use the products they sell.
Opportunities for education and training are more available than at any time in history. There are plenty of adults of all ages back in school, learning a new skill. Check out some of the online tutorials which show you how to do something. Staying current on your skills makes you feel better about yourself.
There are some suggestions for creating empowerment and growing your personal power. Have you found any other ways to feel more competent and in charge of your life?
Leave a comment and share with the rest of us the things you have done to empower yourself and grow that personal power.
Staying connected with David Joel Miller
Seven David Joel Miller Books are available now!
My newest book is now available. It was my opportunity to try on a new genre. I’ve been working on this book for several years, but now seem like the right time to publish it.
Story Bureau is a thrilling Dystopian Post-Apocalyptic adventure in the Surviving the Apocalypse series.
Baldwin struggles to survive life in a post-apocalyptic world where the government controls everything.
As society collapses and his family gets plunged into poverty, Baldwin takes a job in the capital city, working for a government agency called the Story Bureau. He discovers the Story Bureau is not a benign news outlet but a sinister government plot to manipulate society.
Bumps on the Road of Life. Whether you struggle with anxiety, depression, low motivation, or addiction, you can recover. Bumps on the Road of Life is the story of how people get off track and how to get your life out of the ditch.
Dark Family Secrets: Doris wants to get her life back, but small-town prejudice could shatter her dreams.
Casino Robbery Arthur Mitchell escapes the trauma of watching his girlfriend die. But the killers know he’s a witness and want him dead.
Planned Accidents The second Arthur Mitchell and Plutus mystery.
Letters from the Dead: The third in the Arthur Mitchell mystery series.
What would you do if you found a letter to a detective describing a crime and you knew the writer and detective were dead, and you could be next?
Sasquatch. Three things about us, you should know. One, we have seen the past. Two, we’re trapped there. Three, I don’t know if we’ll ever get back to our own time.
For these and my upcoming books; please visit my Author Page – David Joel Miller
Want the latest blog posts as they publish? Subscribe to this blog.
For videos, see: Counselorssoapbox YouTube Video Channel
Honest.
Sunday Inspiration. Post by David Joel Miller.
Honest.
Photo courtesy of Pixabay.com
“Being entirely honest with oneself is a good exercise.”
― Sigmund Freud
“The real things haven’t changed. It is still best to be honest and truthful; to make the most of what we have; to be happy with simple pleasures; and have courage when things go wrong.”
― Laura Ingalls Wilder
“We are all travelers in the wilderness of this world, and the best we can find in our travels is an honest friend.”
― Robert Louis Stevenson
Wanted to share some inspirational quotes with you. Today seemed like a good time to do this. There are an estimated 100,000 words in the English language that are feelings related. Some emotions are pleasant, and some are unpleasant, but all feelings can provide useful information. If any of these quotes strike a chord with you, please share them.
Look at these related posts for more on this topic and other feelings.
Drug Counseling Video #2 Engagement. The job functions of a drug and alcohol counselor, Screening, Intake, and Orientation. Modalities of treatment.
What does a Drug and Alcohol Counselor do? The 4 Domains of drug counseling. The 12 core functions of a drug counselor. Getting the client into treatment, Screening, Engagement, Orientation, Assessment.
How to Find Success & Avoid Failure.
By David Joel Miller, MS, Licensed Therapist & Licensed Counselor.
Success or failure?
Photo courtesy of Pixabay.com
You will reach a destination faster and more surely if you have a map. Far too many people head off looking for success with no idea where they are going or how they will get there. They are surprised when after years of traveling life’s roads they still have not found the success they were looking for.
If you want a life that fails, you can avoid doing most anything, but to have real success will require some planning. Be careful about following other people s directions, they may not be headed where you are going.
If you want to be successful in life invest some time in creating a road map to success that is specific to your life journey.
To reach success you need a clear vision of what it will look like when you get there.
Not paying attention to this one has disastrous results. Lots of people go along following other people’s rules; doing what they are supposed to do, only to find when they reach the destination they are not where they wanted to be.
Did you say you wanted to make a lot of money? Are you willing to do anything to get it? Spend some time at the begging of your success journey thinking about what is most important to you. What are your values and goals? Will it be success, if you earn the money you want by doing things that you consider morally wrong?
How much more will you need to get paid to compensate for a life of doing work you hate?
We find in career counseling that people, who are doing work they like, and that they have the abilities for, are more likely to be successful.
Get to know yourself well. You should be your own best friend. The more self-knowledge you have the more likely you are to set course for yourself that will be enjoyable and successful.
Lots of money won’t mean much if you are miserable and need to spend it all on therapy to solve your misery.
Be sure you have a clear, accurate understanding of what it will be like to reach this goal.
Say you decide, that for you, success is living at the beach- one time I was driving along and saw a sign that said something about an ancient beach. I took the turnoff and drove for hours. Eventually, I discovered I had ended up in the middle of the desert. There was a beach there all right. An ancient beach complete with fossils. But there had not been any water near there for a gazillion years.
So often clients tell me they perused a dream, an idea of success only to find out that the reality of the destination was very different from what they expected. Make sure you know, if you become a novelist – just how much money does the average one make? Do you know how many hours per week the top business managers work?
Would it really be worth it to you to go to college for 8 years to become a professor and then maybe work for what that school you are interested in pays? Today student debt is at an all-time high. People are finding that they can’t make enough in their chosen career field to pay back that college loan.
People can pursue career goals, go to school for a new occupation only to find out that they will need to move cross country to be where the jobs are. Is success for you getting your dream job and moving to a new city to start a new life or is it getting the best job possible while living your life in your home town?
Before you take a training class on becoming a jet aircraft mechanic, find out if there are any airports in your area that have jets. And when was the last time, they hired a mechanic at that airport?
There are plenty of posts in the blog-o-sphere about the importance of enjoying the journey. I tend to agree with that. The destination will be a lot less enjoyable if you do not enjoy the journey.
But life is not all about the journey. Failing to plan and going with the flow may mean you end up somewhere you never wanted to go.
Lots of people struggle to reach a goal thinking that will mean they are successful only to discover the goal does not meet the need they have. In some disciplines, half of the people completing a college degree never work in the field. Either there are no jobs, none in the town they live in, or they decide they really do not want to do that kind of work.
Thousands of kids tell me they want to play professional sports. One look at many of them tells me they are not likely to make it.
If you hate math and science should you really pursue an engineering career?
I am not telling you that you should chuck your dream. Some skinny kids do become Olympic weightlifters. But it is a long road. Do you enjoy doing the things you need to do to get there, and when you reach the goal will it really have been worth it?
There are two approaches to getting from where you are now to where you want to be. Find the things you are strong at and build on those skills or find the things you are weak in and develop new skills.
What does not work is build a definition of success that requires you to become good at things for which you have no skills, and which requires doing things you do not like to do.
If you can see the path from where you are to where you want to go clearly and that is a path you chose to travel, then go for it. But a little planning, in the beginning, can help you avoid a ton of failure.
Does the job require education? Do you like going to school? If the job you want requires meeting the public and promoting the company, are you a social person and will you enjoy making public appearances?
Lots of small business owners get into a bind when they create a business that involves them doing a lot of things they like to do and then as the business grows, they find they are having to do everything and that there is very little they can turn over to others.
If you are a creative artist do you want to do your art, or do you want to create an advertising company and spend time selling to clients, while having to turn the creative work over to others?
Failure to consider the roads you will need to travel results in lots of people being unhappy along the way as they find themselves having to do things, they never wanted to do to reach a success goal that is no longer appealing when they get there.
Starting today, begin developing a plan that will take you to the place you call success.
If you enjoyed this post or think others might enjoy it please click on one or more of the “Like” or “Share” buttons on this page.
Other posts on this topic are in the category success.
Staying connected with David Joel Miller
Seven David Joel Miller Books are available now!
My newest book is now available. It was my opportunity to try on a new genre. I’ve been working on this book for several years, but now seem like the right time to publish it.
Story Bureau is a thrilling Dystopian Post-Apocalyptic adventure in the Surviving the Apocalypse series.
Baldwin struggles to survive life in a post-apocalyptic world where the government controls everything.
As society collapses and his family gets plunged into poverty, Baldwin takes a job in the capital city, working for a government agency called the Story Bureau. He discovers the Story Bureau is not a benign news outlet but a sinister government plot to manipulate society.
Bumps on the Road of Life. Whether you struggle with anxiety, depression, low motivation, or addiction, you can recover. Bumps on the Road of Life is the story of how people get off track and how to get your life out of the ditch.
Dark Family Secrets: Doris wants to get her life back, but small-town prejudice could shatter her dreams.
Casino Robbery Arthur Mitchell escapes the trauma of watching his girlfriend die. But the killers know he’s a witness and want him dead.
Planned Accidents The second Arthur Mitchell and Plutus mystery.
Letters from the Dead: The third in the Arthur Mitchell mystery series.
What would you do if you found a letter to a detective describing a crime and you knew the writer and detective were dead, and you could be next?
Sasquatch. Three things about us, you should know. One, we have seen the past. Two, we’re trapped there. Three, I don’t know if we’ll ever get back to our own time.
For these and my upcoming books; please visit my Author Page – David Joel Miller
Want the latest blog posts as they publish? Subscribe to this blog.
For videos, see: Counselorssoapbox YouTube Video Channel
Friendly.
Sunday Inspiration. Post by David Joel Miller.
Friendly
Photo courtesy of Pixabay.com
“A friend is someone who knows all about you and still loves you.”
― Elbert Hubbard
“It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson, Emerson in His Journals
“What is a friend? A single soul dwelling in two bodies.”
― Aristotle
Wanted to share some inspirational quotes with you. Today seemed like a good time to do this. There are an estimated 100,000 words in the English language that are feelings related. Some emotions are pleasant, and some are unpleasant, but all feelings can prove useful information. If any of these quotes strike a chord with you, please share them.
Look at these related posts for more on this topic and other feelings.
counselorssoapbox 