Counselors provide a quintessential support system for individuals suffering from all kinds of addiction. They form a relationship based on the trust with the patients, and they provide the resources, support and prejudice-free guidance that patients will need on the path to recovery.
Also, counselors help addicts to deal with crisis and manage various issues that comes with addiction.
Here are some of functions of the counselor in addiction treatment
Creating a Therapeutic Alliance with Patients
It is not easy to seek help for addiction treatment as it needs much trust between the counselors and the patients. Hence, it is expedient for the counselor to create a firm bond with their patients called therapeutic alliance.
The therapeutic alliance allows the patient to feel safe with the counselors and open up. This helps the counselor to help them sort out their addiction problem by uncovering the root cause of their addiction.
Trust does not develop instantly, and the counselor gives the patient time to get comfortable with them.
Encourage recovery of the patient
It is correct to say that the counselor is one of the few persons that are intentional about a patient’s recovery. And this is why they don’t display prejudice towards any addicted patient. They help them uncover their abuse pattern and create a treatment plan for them.
Usually, when a patient is addicted, they lack enough motivation to continue. However, with the help of the counselor they have more willpower to continue addiction treatment.
Relapse prevention
When the patient enters fully into the rehab, the work of the counselor is not done yet. There is a tendency for patients to relapse after addiction treatment and it is the counselor’s function to salvage this.
Before the patient completes addiction treatment, the counselor must have designed a relapse prevention plan. The essence of this plan is to prevent the patient from returning to their addiction. Patients who do not have a relapse prevention plan are more likely to relapse than those who have.