Relating Substance Abuse Counselor Background to the Provision of Clinical Tasks

Abstract

This study examines the diverse academic and professional background characteristics of substance abuse treatment counselors, relating these characteristics to the work counselors are doing. Results indicate that while academic and professional background characteristics differentiate whether counselors perform certain clinical tasks or not, they do not differentiate the amount of time they spend doing them. In fact, regression analyses indicate that academic and professional background characteristics currently account for less than 10% of the total variability associated with how counselors spend their time. While meager, the best predictors of individual work tasks appear to be more contextual in nature. The fact that academic and professional background characteristics do not differentiate counselors in terms of time spent on specific clinical responsibilities raises some questions regarding the quality of client care. Results also indicate that the knowledge and skill sets needed for counselors to be effective may vary according to the treatment setting.

Addiction Counselors in Recovery: Perceived Barriers in the Workplace

“…While the studies thus far presented in this paper are outdated, there are two recent quantitative studies that examine provision of clinical tasks distributed among recovering and non-recovering counsellors [24] and the determinants of intrinsic job motivation [25].…”

Recovered addicts working in the addiction field: Pitfalls to substance abuse relapse

“…Much of the literature that has investigated recovered addicts working in the addiction field began to accumulate in the 1970s, and 1980s, but began to diminish in the 1990s, with only one study being reported in the twenty-first century (Knudsen et al, 2006). Among these studies, however, there were only two in my review of the literature that explored the topic of the potential for relapse among recovered counselors working in the field of addiction (Kinney, 1983;McGovern & Armstrong, 1987), with only one involving a qualitative approach (McGovern & Armstrong, 1987).…”

“…While the studies thus far presented in this paper are outdated, there are two recent studies that examine provision of clinical tasks distributed among recovered and non-recovered counselors (Knudsen, Gallon, & Gabriel, 2006) and the determinants of intrinsic job motivation (Tinney & Roberts, 2002).…”