TPC Journal V7, Issue 4 - FULL ISSUE

The Professional Counselor | Volume 7, Issue 4 319 have provided steps toward greater competency in the treatment of addictions; however, most students still have only one course during their program devoted to addictions (Chasek et al., 2012). As most counseling education programs continue to only have a single course devoted to addictions education, it is critical to investigate the educational experiences of CITs and explore the educational experiences that maximize student learning. A common concern when educating CITs about addictions is the attitudes and biases they bring with them to an addictions course (Chasek et al., 2012). The pre-existing attitudes and behaviors espoused by CITs are often derived from moralistic notions of addiction (Chasek et al., 2012). Clinicians’ negative attitudes toward persons with addictions often lead to reduced outcomes in treatment (McLellan, Lewis, O’Brien, & Kleber, 2000). Blagen (2007) suggested that negative attitudes need to be addressed during training to help CITs facilitate relationship building with persons with addictions. A common tool utilized in addictions training to foster empathy and understanding of persons with addictions is the abstinence assignment. The abstinence assignment asks students to abstain from a substance or behavior for a set period and journal about the experience. This learning approach has been explored in a pharmaceutical education program (Baldwin, 2008), allowing students to successfully meet all four of the course’s learning objectives: (1) describe feelings and experiences related to the process of withdrawal from habituating or addicting substances or activities; (2) describe the importance of abstinence in the maintenance of recovery from habituating or addicting substances or activities and discuss the implications of relapse to the recovery process; (3) discuss the importance of support systems in recovery from habituating or addicting substances; and (4) describe the process of addiction and recovery (Baldwin, 2008). Baldwin (2008) found generally favorable opinions of the assignment and strong ties to reflective learning through class surveys conducted before and after the assignment. However, no study to date has explored students’ learning processes during an abstinence assignment. The aim of the current study was to understand the pedagogy behind the abstinence assignment and to explore the experience of students completing the project. It was hoped that the study would reveal if the abstinence assignment could foster empathetic experiences for persons with addiction and if the assignment could enhance understanding of withdrawal, craving, and relapse. Specific research questions included: (a) what, if any, were the empathetic experiences of students concerning clients with addictions; (b) how was the concept of craving experienced and made meaningful by participants; (c) what were the elements of the learning process for participants completing the abstinence assignment; and (d) how did students find ways to deal effectively with cravings and abstinence through the project? This study utilized qualitative data analysis methodology to explore the experiences of 17 CITs who completed an abstinence assignment during their addictions course. A review of pertinent literature follows. CITs often face considerable difficulty learning addiction-specific tools and skills. These challenges typically arise due to students’ limited exposure to persons who are addicted, limited experiences of cravings and triggers, limited understanding of the lives of those with addictions, and limited self- efficacy of being effective with this population (Harwood et al., 2004). This lack of awareness, coupled with classroommaterial that is disconnected from the students’ experiences, may lead students to feel unprepared for treating clients with addiction concerns. The infusion of experiential learning activities is one way to counter the above concern. Kolb (1984) stated that learning new concepts involves directly encountering these concepts within real world experiences. In Kolb’s theory, “Learning is the process whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experience” (Kolb, 1984, p. 38). Effective learning is seen when a person progresses through a cycle of four stages: (1) having a concrete experience, followed by (2) observation of and reflection on that experience, which leads to (3) the formation of