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Addiction Counselor
Helps people overcome substance abuse and behavioral addictions through therapy and support.
Did you know?
In 2001 Portugal treated drug use as a health issue, not a crime; drug-related deaths fell from 131 to 20 by 2008.
How subjects help
- Psychology: Help someone understand their triggers and build new habits to replace old ones.
- Biology: Explain how drugs and alcohol change the brain and why cravings happen.
- Sociology: See how friends, family and money problems can make addiction harder to escape.
- Communication: Lead group sessions where people share their progress and support each other.
A famous name
Bill Wilson: Co-founded Alcoholics Anonymous in 1935, a peer-support model used in addiction recovery.
Try it yourself: Practise listening the SHUSH way
- Ask your partner to talk for three minutes about something ordinary and happy, like the best day they've had this year.
- Listen the SHUSH way: Show you care (phone away, look at them), Have patience, Use open questions ("Tell me more"), Say it back to check you understood, and Have courage to let a silence happen.
- Don't interrupt or offer a solution: just listen.
- Swap roles. If there is a third person, they watch and say which SHUSH tip they saw each of you use.
Social workers, counsellors and mediators spend much of their day listening carefully like this, so people feel heard before anyone talks about what happens next.
Adapted from Samaritans: DEAL: developing listening skills (SHUSH listening tips).
Also try: Test your balance like a physio.
Known for it in
Portugal, Switzerland, USA, UK, Netherlands