Authentic Counselling Training
Substance Use
[Under construction: 4 May 2005]
People use substances to change the way they feel, feel
about themselves, think. Some substances are
stimulating, others are tranquilising; some trigger the release of serotonin,
and others trigger hallucinations. Use of some substances is legal in the
· the client has become chemically addicted to substance (that is, the physiology of the client has been altered by the substance, and can no longer function without that substance);
· the effects of withdrawal from substance use may be too severe (e.g. plummeting serotonin levels consequent to withdrawal from SSRIs)
· the client has invested meaning in use of the substance, including behaviours (rolling a cigarette or joint, going outside the office to smoke, going to pub on the way home from work), peers (the mates down the local) and lifestyle (being visited by the tab man who sells duty free cigarettes door-to-door, clubbing with ecstacy);
· the client has meanings in their life alternative to use of the substance (e.g. family, job, non-use recreations);
· the client’s emotional needs in life are being met;
· the client is fully in touch with themselves as a person (Maslow’s hierarchy of needs).
Some substances
Caffeine (coffee, tea, Red Bull)
Chocolate
Chilli peppers (jalapenos)
Alcohol
Tobacco
Cannabis (dope, blah, grass)
Psylocybin (magic mushroom)
Ecstacy
Amyl nitrate (poppers)
LSD (acid)
Amphetamine (speed)
Cocaine
Mescaline
Codeine
Opium
Heroin
Nitrous oxide
This
document in all parts is copyright © Peter Hughes from the date of construction
given above. Please feel free to make use of them for solely personal purposes.
However, should you wish to use them for teaching, training, commercial or
other purposes, you are required to ask me first.