Summary: Addiction Counselor Exam Review Podcast Hosted by Dr. Dawn-Elise Snipes Executive Director: AllCEUS.com Counselor Training Unlimited CEUs $59 and Addiction Counselor Precertification Training $149 Objectives • Examine the counselors function in providing client, family and community education • Identify the benefits of outreach and education • Identify qualities of effective education efforts Client, family and community education • Learning is defined as a change in behavior that can occur at any time or in any place as a result of exposure to environmental stimuli • The teacher and learner jointly perform teaching and learning activities • Counselors are often called upon to teach daily living skills to increase patients’ level of independence • Health educators provide information to individuals and communities on a variety of important topics including biological, medical, and physical aspects of substance use, safety, HIV and STDs, nutrition, General Medical conditions, smoking, pregnancy, and mental health • Success is measured not by how much content has been imparted but how much the person has learned Client, family and community education • Client family and community education is the process of providing client’s families, significant others and community groups with information on a variety of topics • The role of educator encompasses many knowledge and skill sets such as • understanding and applying the principles of learning theory • using specific teaching skills to accommodate individual learning styles • making adaptations for culture, age and linguistic ability among learners • Educational groups help engage the client in treatment and recovery and is much less threatening because it is easier to learn than to change Client, family and community education • Characteristics of adult learners • They are engaged in multiple roles • They have more life experiences • They need a safe environment in which they do not have to be afraid of being wrong • They're self directed and don’t want to be spoon fed • They are relevancy oriented • Their problem solvers and want to know how new information can be applied in a practical setting • They need to feel part of a learning community which provides both encouragement and serves as a sounding board for ideas, anxieties, and concerns • Adults are motivated to learn • In order to cope with specific life changing events • Because they have a use for the knowledge or skill being sought Effective education efforts • Education is provided in a variety of ways including formal classes, handouts and informal meetings • Print electronic and other multimedia educational materials have become increasingly available • A client education program must be sensitive to the following: • Characteristics and needs of the client, their family, and significant others • Physical/environmental • Time/scheduling • Cognitive/learning abilities • Language • Cultural Effective education efforts • Educational sessions are typically offered in 60 to 90 minute blocks • Sessions usually consist of a lecture, an exercise, and are presented with media supplements • Educational topics include: • Addiction as a Biopsychosocial disease • The recovery process • Life skills • Health • Relapse warning signs and triggers • Resources available for clients family’s and community members • Recovery planning Effective education efforts continued • Learning styles • Each learner absorbs and retains information differently • A learning style is the primary way person tends to learn and can be auditory, visual, or kinesthetic • Challenges to learning • Learning and memory deficits attributable to substance use • Consideration should be given to the teaching approach used and the amount of information given at any one time • The matrix model of outpatient treatment illustrates an approach that recognizes impairments and delivers information to the client accordingly • Progress is gradual • The focus is on the present
