TPC Journal V7, Issue 4 - FULL ISSUE

The Professional Counselor | Volume 7, Issue 4 327 Effectively Dealing With Cravings Students often struggle with understanding where to start treatment with persons entering recovery (Carroll, 2000). This uncertainty may stem from unfamiliarity with the experiences of addictions and from lack of awareness of appropriate therapeutic goals for clients suffering from addictions. Students in this study reported understanding the concepts of triggers and cravings much more tangibly, while often discussing how they would broach these topics more readily with clients after completing the abstinence assignment. The students also reported ways they found to effectively manage their cravings that they felt could be useful to explore with clients in the future. These ways included many of the well-established treatment interventions for addictions that advocate for removal of all substances or substance use–related materials from home; restructuring daily living to replace or avoid triggering things, places, or times; the building of a supportive structure of family and peers; allowing others to hold the person responsible for future substance use; limiting exposure to cross-dependency through the use of other substances; actively discussing current cravings and triggers with family or peer support; and relying on healthy living strategies, like eating and sleeping well, to bolster defenses against triggers. We see from the list above that students were able to extrapolate strategies through abstaining from a substance or behavior to their work with clients. A closer inspection of Theme Three, students’ self-reflection of learning, found further support for the application of this project. Elements of the Learning Process In examining the students’ learning process, this study was interested in discovering if Kolb’s model could be an effective explanation of students’ learning during the abstinence assignment. It was discovered that the stage of concrete experiences was experienced during the period of abstaining. The assignment also required a reflection log or journal and a summarization paper. Within these portions of the assignment, the researchers found ample evidence to support that students engaged in reflective observations that helped them assign meaning to their experiences during abstaining, and also provided room for students to actively think through what these experiences meant for their work with clients (i.e., abstract conceptualization). Due to time considerations and inaccessibility to students, the researchers were unable to observe elements of Kolb’s fourth stage (i.e., active experimentation). Future research might build upon the present design to investigate the application of skills with CITs having undergone an abstinence assignment. Implications for Counselor Education Madson, Bethea, Daniel, and Necaise (2008) explored current training within counseling psychology and mental health counseling programs and recommended key areas educators should attend to within the realm of addictions. These areas included: (a) thoroughly assess SUD, (b) determine the appropriate level of treatment, and (c) develop treatment plans that include evidence- based substance abuse treatment (Madson et al., 2008). Madson et al. identified key areas that closely aligned with CACREP Standard II.3.D., which calls for counselors to understand the theories and etiology of addictions and addictive behaviors, including strategies for prevention, intervention, and treatment. It is the authors’ belief that the abstinence assignment helps students prepare for the above standards in a way that surpasses traditional didactic content. Speculatively, this may be why the abstinence assignment has been seen as a hallmark of addictions training. Baldwin’s (2008) investigation of abstinence assignments found that 69% of participants felt the abstinence assignment had a major positive effect, and 44% of participants agreed that they better understood the process of addictions recovery as a result of the assignment. This study aimed to build upon Baldwin’s findings; specifically, to explore if the abstinence assignment was found valuable by students; and to discover if it provided a valuable learning experience about the phenomenological experiences of persons with addictions, an understanding of the symptoms of addictions, and an understanding of preliminary