Visual Aids

I like this video because it says that addiction can happen to anyone, and if you become a counselor you will be helping people change their lives.


This video helps prove my point that because rehab is so expensive, people who need it usually can not afford it. insurance companies are more reluctant to pay, which puts even more people out of luck.

Anotated Bibliography

Foster, Susan. "Behind Bars II: Substance Abuse and America's Prison Population."

National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University

(2010): n. pag. Web. 13 Apr 2010.

This source is a one hundred and sixty page report written by National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University. The report is called, "Behind Bars II: Substance Abuse and America's Prison Population." I was not able to read the entire report, but the statistics I found have been very shocking. For instance, “Of the 2.3 million inmates crowding our nation’s prisons and jails, 1.5 million meet the medical criteria for substance abuse or addiction.” Most of the material I have read seems very accurate, considering I have first hand knowledge of the inside of a prison. The article was written in February of 2010, so it is very current. I will use these statistics to appeal to the Logos of the reader.


Froemke, Susan , Dir. Addiction. Dir. Susan Froemke." Perf. Roberta, . HBO

Documentary Films: 2007, Film.

This HBO Documentary Film on addiction was very insightful. I have been doing research on meth and addiction for my class room presentation, and when I watched this segment a couple of weeks ago it caught my attention. The segment I watched was called Insurance Woes; In Pennsylvania, a group of citizens have joined with state legislatures and lawyers to demand that policies are amended. At the State Capitol Building in Harrisburg, PA, a group of parents and friends of young people who fell victim to addiction have gathered to state their cases. We hear from mothers who lost children, and a District Attorney pleading to build a better system. I will be using parts of this in my essay to hopefully get the reader emotionally on my side.


Rosenbloom, David Ph.D. "Coping With the Stigma of Addiction." HBO Addiction.

HBO, 2010. Web. 13 Apr 2010.

This is an article written on the web site I was referred to when watching the film, “Addiction.” It is produced by the same company (HBO) that made the documentary. This web site is very informative for anyone who is dealing with addiction, or knows someone who is. The section that I am going to use for my paper is titled “Coping With the Stigma of Addiction.” This article helps explains why it is so hard for an individual to deal with addiction in today’s society. Legal discrimination happens all the time to people who have been through rehab, and are now trying to be a productive member of society. Dr Rosenbloom then offers five things you can do to fight stigma, the one that is most useful to me and my paper is; “Demand equal medical insurance coverage for alcohol and drug treatment.”


"Substance Abuse Licensure Requirements." Arizona Board of Behavioral Health

Examiners. N.p., 2009. Web. 13 Apr 2010.

This is an online document I printed out from the Arizona Board of Behavioral Health Examiners off their web site. The title is “Substance Abuse Licensure Requirements,” this documents shows everything the state of Arizona requires for an individual to become a licensed Substance Abuse Counselor. I was excited to research this because I did not know the entire requirements of reaching my goal of being a Licensed Independent Substance Abuse Counselor. Now I feel a little overwhelmed with the amount required for this certificate, however I now know what I have to do to succeed. I am going to use this source to explain what it takes to be a Substance Abuse Counselor, and show that Counselors are professionals.

Interview write up

I interviewed the therapist who has helped me the most in my recovery. She has shown me that having a good relationship with someone you can trust is very important in the recovery process. She has also played a huge role in my deciding to become an addictions counselor. I have sat down with her on several occasions and spoke with her about what I need to do to become a successful counselor. This time I emailed her a list of nine questions which she gave me excellent incite on, plus an expert opinion for my paper. I was very happy with the answers I received, because the problems that I thought were going on in this profession have been confirmed.

Collected Links

1. http://azaadac.org/node/4This This link is to the Arizona Association of Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Counselors web page. This is a site that I will use to research the requirements to become a substance abuse counselor. Is has hundreds of links to help me find other resources in the psychology field, and information about the aspects of counseling I need to know.

2. http://totallifecounseling.blogspot.com/search/label/Career This is a blog for Total Life Counseling, I like this blog because it has a lot of good career advice and interviews from professionals. There is a lot of good statistics on the career I would like to get into, and they have an archive of blogs on everything from abusive relationships, to warning signs, and tips to prevent suicide. I think this site is a very good resource for someone like me, or anyone else who might need information from a licensed professional.

3. http://www.aapc.org/content/counselor-magazine-article This article is from the magazine, Counselor: The Magazine for Addiction Professionals. The title of this article is; “Counselors and Clergy: Partners in Healing.” This is a very informative article about the effectiveness of collaborative efforts between drug and alcohol counselors, and pastoral ministers. This is important to me because faith and religion played a huge role in the success of my recovery. I plan on continuing my education by

getting my masters degree at a Christian college; this will give me the tools I need to help the people who want faith to be part of their recovery. This article gives good information on what addiction counselors can do to collaborate with those in the faith community. When people in recovery go through the 12-step program, one of the main points is relying on God or a higher power. Being able to utilize some one who is an expert in this field, I believe will improve their chances for success.

4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Index_of_psychology_articles This Wikipedia page is titled, “Index of Psychology Articles.” This page has links to everything there is to know about psychology. This is going to be very helpful in my research. For instance I have found some links already that are going to help me better understand how PET scans work, and the availability of the technology. There are probably over a thousand links to other Wikipedia articles concerning psychology, and anything else related to this field.

Eng 101 Essay #3 Topic Proposal

The topic I have chosen to write about for Essay #3 is going to be on the career field of Psychology, with an emphasis on drug and alcohol addictions. I have decided on this career because I do have a lot of experience with the counseling field, but mostly I want to be able to help people get over their addictions. I have found the counselors that have helped me the most have been through similar situations that I have. I also spend a lot of my free time talking to high school students about how the choices they make will greatly affect their future. The students' response to me has showed me that what I am doing is really making a difference in the choices they make. This has given me hope that with the right education I will be able to save peoples lives.
I am hoping to learn a lot more about the good parts and the difficult aspects of psychology. I am also looking forward to learning from my current counselor when I interview her, about what degree I should go after, and what helps her succeed at what she is doing. I am also hoping to find a controversy that I can address, and with any luck come up with a solution.

First Post

This is my first blog.
This blog is for my English 101 class.
This is going to be fun!