Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Being Unwilling

A client is made to pack her belongings and leave the program yesterday because she’s exhibited a chronic pattern of poor behavior.

Among other things, she refused to get out of bed for group. She had a constant bad attitude. She'd relapsed a day earlier and tried to take some of the women with her.

Then when she returned from detox after her relapse, she refused to move to a more restrictive part of the program – a consequence given her by her house managers and the treatment team.

It’s always difficult to discharge a client. For one thing, their families have invested in their recovery with emotional and financial support. And the other part is that it’s our job to help them get clean – not discharge them.

But when a client refuses to participate in the process even a little bit – then we haven’t any alternative.  They need to keep trying it their way.

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