LEARNING NARRITIVE

Whether I knew it or not, I began creating this assignment at the beginning of the program. Overall, my entire definition of addictions as well as what encompasses the addictions field, has change dramatically since the first week of classes. My personally theory has been developing throughout this process by allowing myself to open up, remove myself from personal judgement, biases, and the stigma of addiction and focus on the individual; whom I believe, often gets lost in the mess. 

One of my most prominent learning’s resulting from this project so far is the many possibilities available for the role of the intervener. I was aware of the numerous treatment options which where available but I have never full understood the role of the intervener within each tier or service. Furthermore; through this project as well as out other major projects (healthy communities and mental wellness) I have come to a firm belief that a helper must first help himself or herself before they should attempt to help others. By this, I am referring to the dimensions of wellness and the determinants of health – interveners need to be mentally and physically well to provide the most effective help to clients. For me, this means the creating of my wellness plan I had created for my mental wellness assignment and abiding by my goals and interventions to improve the dimensions of wellness I think to be lacking in.

I found myself to be challenged initially with identifying with an existing theory or model where someone had attempted to group together the cause and occurrence of substance use among individuals. I originally found it hard to believe that everyone could fit one specific set of theoretical guidelines of an addiction, how it came about, why it continued and how treatment should be approached. However, this turned out not to be the case. I was so busy trying to find a theory that fit that it took me a while to realize that I don’t think there should be a theory of addiction. I believe the classifying the reason for addiction as being the result of biological or psychological processes of the moral strength or weakness of an individual is as bad as using ones righting reflex. Telling individuals why they have become dependence upon a substance or behaviour is not taking their story into account. Currently, I have changed my outlook on the research findings available and now look at them as being science based information, which provide us with many possible options as to how individuals become enthralled into addiction.

Another area in which my thinking was challenged was in the context of a starting point. Initially, a few days into the beginning stages of working on this project I found myself very confused. I felt like I knew little about what I should be writing about and even less I how to turn it into a theory. Now, I can see that I was to caught up in looking at the field of addiction as little pieces to a puzzle. We have the causes, substances, process based addictions, mental health, dimensions of wellness, the determinants of health, continuum or risk, prevention and health promotion – there are a lot of factors at play within this field. I struggled with this for a while when I decided to begin by writing out definitions for important terminology relating to addiction. Here I began to make a few connections; how each part is inter-related with some or all of the other aspects. It is only know as I write my learning narrative that I can see how my prerogative concerning addictions has changed. I now see the field of addictions in a holistic sense where each tiny piece influences the other tiny pieces. I was mistaken to consider each piece of addiction as something different however; I think it was necessary to fully appreciate the whole picture.

My overall largest growth however, was seen in terms of addiction treatment. I am beginning to come to a realization that there is no actual treatment for an addiction. There is not formal rules or resources developed to ‘cure’ the occurrence of addiction (whether it be substance related or process based). In reality, treatment is more of how individuals rebuild their overall wellness and wellbeing, which is based on personal determinants such as the determinants of health and the dimensions of wellness. I think it is as important to look at individuality and individual experience within treatment as it is why assessed the route taken to get to harmful involvement of substance use and process based addictions. I had always been aware that there were different treatment options available within our community but it was not until the process of creating my personal theory that I began to consider why certain treatment options were chosen or successful.

I am not saying that every aspect of addiction should be client specific as there are many consistent factors, which have proven to be successful in the field. I think the use of standardized assessments and screening tools are necessary to get the appropriate information to aid treatment planning. Also, I think consistency matters in terms of vocabulary and how individuals are classified (i.e. substance dependent, harmful involvement. Rules and guidelines are important to adhere to however; I think there is a necessary balance between group generalizations and individual experiences, which must be considered within all aspects of addiction.

In conclusion, I think that the production of my personal theory of addiction has made me consider and question many components of what I had previously assumed addiction to be. Personally, I believe that the field of addiction should be specifically designed for each individual involved whether it be clients or interveners as everyone has their own, unique experiences which have lead them to where they are today.