Program Outcomes:

Program Outcome #1: Use therapeutic communications in professional relationships.
Program Outcome #2: Apply counseling theories and techniques in the human service field.
Program Outcome #3: Develop personal and client behavioral health and wellness strategies.
Program Outcome #4: Use effective case management skills and documentation.
Program Outcome #5: Develop strategies for treating and intervening on behalf of victims of violence.
Program Outcome #6: Integrate cultural competency standards into delivering the human service field.
Program Outcome #7: Apply proper ethical and legal guidelines for the confidentiality of client information.

Learning Outcomes:

Learning Objective #1: Demonstrate Knowledge of theories, research, best practice literature & effective approaches with substance use disorders.
Learning Objective #2: Demonstrate Knowledge of the role of the counselor & therapeutic uses of power & authority.
Learning Objective #3: Provide definitions of warmth, respect, genuineness, concreteness & empathy.
Learning Objective #4: Demonstrate techniques for dealing with transference, counter-transference & projective identification.
Learning Objective #5: Learn to carry out the actions necessary to form & facilitate a group.

Core Abilities

Communication
Personal/Professional-Responsibility
Critical Thinking/ Problem-Solving
Information/Technological Literacy

Beginning the Therapeutic Alliance

From the first contact, your clients learn some essential things about you. You are friendly. You are on their side. You are not going to hurt, shame, or blame them. Addiction is a disease like cancer, hypertension, asthma, or diabetes. People should not be ashamed of being sick. No one desires to become an addict like no one wants to have cancer.

Freely answer any questions about treatment and the treatment center. Take new clients on tour, and introduce them to other clients. Be honest, and hold nothing back. You provide the information, and the clients make the decisions. They see you as a concerned professional. The clients begin to hope that you can help them. The therapeutic alliance builds from an initial foundation of love, trust, and commitment.

Give new clients the idea that you are going through treatment with them. They do not have to feel alone. Neither of you can do this alone. Both of you needed to cooperate. Clients know things that you do not know. They have Knowledge that you do not have. They know themselves better than anybody and need to learn to share themselves with you. Likewise, you know things that they do not know. You know the tools of recovery. You have to share these tools and help the clients to use them. The therapeutic alliance is a cooperative effort. It is as if you are on an extraordinary - incredible journey together.

The Importance of Trust

Your clients must develop trust in you. To establish this trust, you must be consistent. You must repeatedly prove to the clients that you will be actively involved in their individual growth. When you say you will do something, you do it. When you make a promise, you keep it. You never trick clients into giving you something - always take an honest approach. You never manipulate, even to get something good. The first time your clients catch you in a lie, even a small one -you will weaken the therapeutic alliance. Clients must understand that you are committed to their recovery but cannot recover for them. You must show them and guide them. It would be best if you worked together cooperatively. You can only teach the tools of recovery. The clients have to use the tools to establish abstinence.

Perkinson, Robert R. Chemical Dependency Counseling (pp. 20-21). SAGE Publications. Kindle Edition.

*** Note: These videos below are taken from a nursing model (Sometimes, other professions can explain some concepts better.)

Mental Health Mini # 7 Therapeutic Relationships

Mental Health Mini # 7 Therapeutic Relationships - YouTube

Mental Health Mini # 8: Therapeutic Communication

(179) Mental Health Mini # 8: Therapeutic Communication - YouTube