August 6, 2011
Today a client came to the office to check in with the kiosk machine. However, he asked to see me because he needed the address to this office. Because of who I am and what I do, I decided to ask him about or review with him how he was progressing with his drug treatment. He began to tell about how he was getting a handle on his disease and looking for a power greater than himself. It was at this time I decided to pull him into my office and get to the core of his drug use so he could have an answer as to why he began to use cocaine in the first place.
As he sat in my office I asked my “why do you think you began to use drugs approximately 17 years ago? (note: he never used drugs before that time) He mentioned that it was “him” and that he had a “sick” mind and the disease difficult to overcome. Then he mentioned that he wanted “acceptance.” Now I can acknowledge that he needed acceptance because he was using with a group of people on the weekends. However, the “I am sick in the mind” is something I have a difficult time accepting. So, I continued to probe for the “truth.” I asked him “what was going on in his life that he had to use narcotics? ” He mentioned that he had a good job and a wife, so there was nothing to complain about. So I said, “if your life was so good why would you use illegal drugs?” Then I asked him, “When did you use the drugs?” He stated that it was only on the weekends. I asked him, “What kind of job did you do?” He said, ” I was a baker for large food chain.” I asked him if he liked the job. He responded that he hated the job with a passion. He stated that he worked 12 hours a day in a building where there was no light or any type of movement. The client stated that he didn’t want to be there and was feeling frustrated. He did not want to do this job or have this job be his future and didn’t know how to get out it. So, he stated that when the weekends arrived he would meet up with the boys and party hard.
When he told me the story, I asked him to think about why the weekend partying with drugs became important to him. After a few moments, he looked at me and said that “my drug use on the weekends was the only time I could express myself and forget about the job I knew I had to go to Monday morning.” My response was, “Now you have your answer.” So, to put it simply, “the reason you used drugs was to meet your need for self-expression, choice, emotional safety and relaxation (tragically). He responded by saying, “that made so much sense.” He also stated that the information I presented to him was the truth and that he couldn’t deny it.” He told me that he appreciates the notion that he doesn’t have a disease or allergy; he just didn’t like his job. To date, the client has a job where he has movement and where he can use his mechanical abilities which cause him to feel contentment with his life. The client stated that drugs are not an issue at this time and if he does “feel” trapped in a given situation he will look for other alternatives that will not get him into trouble.
