They Were Unique, Misunderstood, and Among my Greatest Teachers
A retrospective of my twenty-seven years working with individuals with substance abuse challenges
I was employed in the human services field for thirty years; the majority of those as an addiction counselor and clinical supervisor for the State of New York. I received my first introduction to the addictions field in 1979, approximately two years after I graduated from Utica College, with a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology. At that time, I worked as a youth employment counselor with a local nonprofit agency. While doing community outreach as part of my required duties, I discovered a day treatment facility that provided services to individuals with alcohol and other substance use challenges. After a couple of visits, they asked me to conduct job skills training classes with their clients. As a result, I became increasingly interested in working with this group of individuals on a more regular basis. My wish soon became a reality. In July of 1982, I secured a job with the Oneida County Probation Department in their Stop-DWI program. In 1985, I was hired as an outpatient substance abuse counselor at a local agency where I remained until I was hired in a similar capacity by the State of New York in 1986. I retired in July of 2012, embracing a second career in teaching and doing…
