Question by Dan W: Can i become a councilor with a GED?
Well i am wondering if you can become a councilor for drug abuse if you only have a GED, because i was addicted to methamphetamine, marijuana, inhalants, and alcohol for about five years of my life and luckily i got myself help and have been clean for about 2 years now and i would really like to help people overcome the demons i also faced trying to become clean, any help would be wonderful. Thanks for any feed back.

Best answer:

Answer by jannsody
Congratulations on having almost two years of sobriety! With regard to becoming a substance abuse counselor, I believe that most with a Certified Addiction Counselor (CAC) have a master’s degree which takes about six years of college, if attending on a full-time basis. There are different levels of training for addictions counseling, but most jobs prefer those with a master’s degree.

Please also be aware that in order to get one’s certification as a CAC (or similar credentials), the person needs A LOT of clinical experience which includes having an actual patient caseload of those with addiction.

With regard to schooling, please AVOID those private overly priced For-profit schools such as kaplan, ashworth, capella, university of phoenix, devry, ITT tech, strayer, everest, brown mackie, american public university, keiser, argosy, penn foster, ashford, grand canyon, westwood, stratford career, pima medical institute, colorado tech and others as they are merely out to “make a profit” (** and their course credits usually do NOT transfer to other schools).

These consumer sites have a lot of negative posts by former students about those for-profit schools, and please heed the students’ warnings:

– http://www.ripoffreport.com

– http://www.pissedconsumer.com

– http://www.complaintsboard.com and can search.

Please instead consider the more affordable community college and/or public/state university as long as the program is accredited within the industry.

For U.S. colleges: http://www.utexas.edu/world/univ

This site is supposed to have more info re: (regarding) getting certified in addictions counseling: http://www.naadac.org/certification and can scroll down a bit.

General career info: http://www.bls.gov/oco and can search “counselors”, “social workers” or such.

Regarding inhalants or “huffing” (fumes or chemical vapors), my friend actually has a Brain Injury from inhalant use at the age of 12, now in her 30s.

Other risks of huffing include sight loss/blindness, heart/liver/kidney damage, seizures, limb spasms, hearing loss and even death, all of which can happen after the very FIRST time of use.

For anyone, this site has more info about the dangers of huffing – National Inhalant Prevention Coalition: http://www.inhalants.org

Wishing you continued recovery and wellness and that you continue making good, HEALTHY choices in life 🙂

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Question by FickelFascination: What to do with my alcoholic brother?
My brother is well on his way to becoming an alcoholic. He’s 21. Two months ago he drove drunk and crashed, totaling his car and getting 5 tickets. The state made him go to classes but they don’t seem to be helping because tonight he’s incredibly drunk.

He’s actually been sober for about two months but now… But tonight I can’t even understand what he’s saying. He likes to drink heavily. He blew a .22 when he got in his accident. He won’t be driving tonight.

So, my question is, how should I handle this? Is there anything I should do or would it be best to stand back and let everything run its course?

Best answer:

Answer by PICKLE
whoaaa that wierd. my brother is exactly the same like exactly
i dont do anything becuz he never listens

Answer by gismo
Unfortunately it is very hard to get through to a person in such a crisis. They are addicted, and when someone is addicted to alcohol or anything else, they have to really want to change it. The only thing I can say to you is, do not facilitate him, when he is sober let him know how much you love him, how much it hurts you to see him do these things to himself and that you want no part of it as long as he is doing this.
Unfortunately if you stand alone on this, you may lose your relationship with your brother, but he has to see how much alcohol is costing him. A united front with the rest of his loved ones would be great. I have added a couple of links below, I hope this has been helpful as I am no expert I had someone in my life who abused alcohol not daily he was not an alcoholic in the textbook form but he abused alcohol in a way that affected the lives of those he loved. NO one had the guts to take a stand and the saga continues…. better luck to you and your loved ones.

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Question by jesswzmn: what is the fundamental group personality flaw of liberals which leads to them losing out to Republicans ?
on issues like healthcare reform.

Best answer:

Answer by [email protected]
I was really surprised to hear this from top-level Republicans: we significantly outclass the Liberals in one area that compensates for our smaller numbers: organization.

You might think that’s funny, but it’s quite true. Republicans are way more organized and diligent. Year after year, Democrats are astonished when they lose elections, and it all came down to dogged determination, coupled with far superior organization.

Liberals excel at getting their supporters enthused, but their creativity is no match for the “slow and steady wins the race” approach the Republicans use.

It’s like playing poker. You always have some smug hotshot (Liberal) who arrogantly believes he can just bluff his way to victory. Opposing him is the Conservative who has studied all the statistics and hence knows exactly when to bet, when to raise, and when to fold.

The hotshot may win some flashy hands, but the conscientious player will always prevail.

Answer by David
I think its a values thing. We are a center right country still, and probably will be for a while. Conservatives have an advantage because they often represent the status quo: the way things are. Liberals are far more progressive, and quicker to jump on the bandwagon so to speak in terms of new programs and policies. That weariness that Republicans have of the unknown (this is one of the key aspects of conservatism). Liberals have to be far more speculative, while Republicans can point towards what is happening now. Liberals tend to look at the “positive outlook”, while Conservatives tend to look at the “negative outlook”, and that negative outlook is more safer. If The People are feeling ballsy about a particular issue, they are willing to take a risk (and be liberal in that sense).

Obama’s campaign was successfuly largely because the status quo was not approvable to the majority of Americans. His rhetoric of change was something that more and more people were willing to accept was important, because our status quo at the time was not favorable. But if things don’t change quick enough, people are quick to assume that it’s not going to work, and so revert back to the “safety” of the status quo. This is why the Republicans have an edge much of the time.

Honestly, I think it is the blend of our two parties, the switch from one to another, that is what makes our country succesful. In times of change, Democrats can make us progressive, in times of stability, Republicans can keep us going. The Democrats keep us progressive, but the Republicans keep us in check, to make sure we don’t get ahead of ourselves. And since it is the people who elect these folks, we are in control of which direction our country goes. No system is perfect, but America has never been in a situation that we weren’t able to overcome sooner or later and I believe that will always be the case.

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