What Is The Role Of A Counselor In Addiction Recovery?

When a patient enters treatment or individual counseling, there seems to be a misconception of “the counselor will fix me”. This simply isn’t the case.

Addiction Counselors

The role of a counselor in addiction recovery is to help the patient identify goals to achieve and work towards them. But make no mistake, it is the patient driving recovery.

Therapy and counselors give perspective, teach skills and strategies to cope and actions to go along with recovery.

​Who Does The Work?

While the role of an addiction counselor is to give perspectives and teach skills, it is the patient who needs to work to implement actions and make changes to achieve recovery goals.

For example, in counseling, a patient might decide their goal is to stay sober for 6 months. The counselor can then break it down into smaller steps by discussing with the patient how to achieve that. Do they need a new job, is the current job causing too much stress? Is the patient spending too much time around a bar? Do friends influence and sway decisions to continue an addiction? In addition, the counselor can teach coping skills and layout effective strategies to assist with change.

At end of day, it is up to the patient to implement changes that are discovered or taught through therapy.

Getting Help For Addiction

If you or somebody in your life seems to have an issue with alcohol or drugs, or is suffering from addiction, professional help may be the best option for recovery.

At Care Addiction Center, we offer treatment plans that address every facet of your addiction, serving individuals in Geneva, Batavia, Sycamore, St. Charles, and Kane County, with online addiction treatment available anywhere in Illinois. 

To get started on the road to recovery, or if you have questions about helping yourself or a loved one, call us today or schedule a confidential assessment online and begin treatment.