Post-modernism counseling in treating addictive disorder: From obstacles to optimism
Abd Halim Mohd Hussin
National Anti Drug Agency, Malaysia
: J Addict Behav Ther Rehabil
Abstract
Traditional addiciton counseling became accustomed with the assessment of clients’ past life, where they may have failed, and the focus of counseling interventions tend to be surrounded on investigating “why” the clients have continued to ‘relapse’ back to a drug-involved lifestyle. The repeated conversation on causes of problems and failures about the clients can often be self-fulfilling. When a counselor reviews a client’s history, a mind-set develops about the client. If the mind-set is about client being resistant, reluctant, and defensive, the client action will be regarded in that fashion regardless of their behavior. This mind-set can be a form of sabotaging the client treatment even before it has begun. Post-modernism counseling moves away from this paradigm. With that being said, a post-modernist counselor posits that drug addicts’ being reluctant and defensive are something constructed in the session using language between the counselor and the client. That means, solution is also can be constructed in the session. Viewing clients from solution-oriented could benefit clients with addictive disorder. The purpose of this study is to describe the use of post-modern ideas in addiction counseling in treating clients with addictive disorder at a residential setting in Malaysia. Methodology and Theoretical Orientation: A case study is presented to illustrate the use of post-modern ideas in addressing hope and solutions in a drug addict client. The guidelines of post-modernism counseling is adhered to Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT). Findings: this study indicated a significant reduction in dysfunctioning behavior and improvement in psychological well-being. Conclusion and Significance. The positive outcomes from this study calls for support to further investigate the use of post-modern ideas in addiciton counseling. The underlying theoretical rationale of SFBT, such as being a brief therapy and a focus on strength, can be part of an effective and cost-efficient strategy to treat clients with addicitve disorder.
Biography
Abd Halim Mohd Hussin is currently the Director General of National Anti-Drugs Agency, Malaysia under the Ministry of Home Affairs, Malaysia. He earned his first degree in counselling from UPM, Malaysia and Master’s Degree in counselling from Indiana University, Bloomington, USA. He is currently the President of Malaysian Counselling Association, Fellow Researcher at Asian Centre For Research On Drug Abuse and Fellow Executive of Malaysia-Indonesia Counselling Association
