It can be challenging to transition from being in treatment and focusing on your recovery to leaving and returning to daily responsibilities. One of those daily responsibilities will include finding a job in order to provide for yourself or your family. This is where vocational counseling can help. You will have the opportunity to learn essential skills, such as interviewing tips and how to build your resume.
Here at West Coast Recovery Centers, we offer vocational counseling as an option to individuals participating in our treatment programs. This article will explore vocational counseling and how you can benefit from it, ensuring a healthy life after treatment.
How Prevalent Is Substance Use Disorder in the United States?
The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) found that in 2022, 20.4 million adults living in the United States were diagnosed with substance use disorder (SUD). Of that 20.4 million, only about ten percent actually received treatment for their SUD.
These numbers are significant to note because if you are struggling with SUD, it can make it extremely difficult to obtain and maintain employment. This is why it is vital to seek out treatment and participate in vocational counseling if it is offered to you. You can first begin by looking into different treatment programs and choosing the one that resonates best with your individual needs. Then from there, you can begin treatment and start focusing on recovery.
Let’s Explore Vocational Counseling
Vocational counseling can also be known as vocational rehabilitation. This helps the individual learn skills to set them up to enter the job force. This is advice given by a counseling professional to help with any job or career-related advice you may need. Vocational counseling, in most cases, starts with an aptitude test to understand the individual’s strengths and skills that they already possess. This also allows the counselor to evaluate the areas of opportunity for the individual and identify ways they might need extra help. This can include different things, such as building a resume, writing cover letters, and learning different interview tips.
It can be scary going from focusing on your rest and recovery for quite a long period of time to then having to transition back to work. For many people, working can cause a lot of stress for many different reasons. In order to minimize the stress that can accompany transitioning back into the work field, it’s critical to have healthy coping skills in place.
Healthy coping strategies for stress are something that we offer here at West Coast Recovery Centers throughout treatment. For example, we offer yoga, creative expression through art, and meditation practices. We also offer a wide variety of meditation practices, such as walking and guided meditation. These different forms of meditation will help slow down your thoughts and cause you to be more present.
The Benefits
According to the National Library of Medicine, there are many different benefits that come with participating in vocational counseling, especially for individuals who struggle with substance use disorder. For example, they discovered that some people were more likely to see improvements in both their employment and quality of life.
The company McIntosh specifically explored the effects of vocational counseling interventions on people who struggle with SUDs. They found that there was an increase in self-esteem and positive self-image after completing the interventions. While these individuals were participating in the interventions, they showed more effort into engaging in treatment, thus experiencing a decline in their addictive behaviors.
It’s essential to keep in mind that in order to see results from any form of counseling, effort needs to be put in from the very beginning. This will help ensure that you are able to see the results you are looking for once treatment is over.
The Next Steps
Here at West Coast Recovery Centers, we offer vocational counseling during your treatment program. This can help you feel more confident to go out into the job market once you leave our center. We provide assistance with resume building, interview tips, and many other skills that can help.
We understand that everyone is unique and has different needs, which is why we provide individualized paths for self-determined recovery. We also offer both traditional forms of treatment and non-traditional treatments to ensure that we can cater to where you are in this season of life.
For example, one of the non-traditional treatments that we offer within our programs is the practice of yoga. This is one of the many non-traditional treatments that we offer, and it’s important to note that with this type of program, you will get what you put in. However, you are not alone there are many ways that West Coast Recovery Centers can help you during this tough process.
You may be left wondering what your next steps should be after treatment, with finding a job and getting back into daily responsibilities. If you’re feeling nervous, it’s crucial to remember that there are different options for you to receive help. Here at West Coast Recovery Centers, we offer vocational counseling to assist in resume building and interview preparation. This can feel like an intimidating and scary process, especially after focusing solely on your recovery. It’s important to remember that you are not alone; we offer personalized treatment programs to ensure we meet each individual’s unique needs. Reach out to us today for more information on our programs at (760) 492-6509.