Drug Rehab Center

Geoff Thompson, Program Director for Sunshine Coast Health Centre, discusses the importance of finding balance when it comes to work – making your job a part of your life, but not your identity. Geoff discusses the situation of many people with addictions that tend to focus on work because that is what they are good at or where their addiction can continue without too much interference.

Geoff Thompson, Program Director for Sunshine Coast Health Centre, discusses why it is so important to find work that is satisfying and gives a sense of achievement and how to do it even in such uncertain times. Bill Wilson is profiled as someone who switched from being a stock promoter to co-founding Alcoholics Anonymous with Dr. Bob Smith. In doing so, Bill W. discovered a life of meaning, a sense of achievement, and helped ease the suffering of many thousands of people.

When Geoff has asked clients what they like about work, many respond that they like the excitement or danger of the job, or the fact that it’s always changing. These clients often also use drugs or drink while on the job. Geoff asserts that these people often mistake intensity for meaning and do not necessarily having a sense of personal fulfillment.

By Daniel Jordan

The following is an interview with Rosemary Patterson, a Career Assessment and Awareness Specialist at Sunshine Coast Health Center. In this interview, Rosemary explains the importance of having clients discover their interests and aptitudes before embarking on a new or different career path.

What is your role at Sunshine Coast?

My role is to help clients find a realistic and satisfying career choice. Typically, these clients are currently unemployed or are in occupations that, for whatever reason, are not satisfying. We even have clients who are in retirement and are looking for something new. Quite often our clients may have a career in mind but they may not be aware of their own weaknesses that may make them unsuitable for certain occupations. Conversely, other clients may be in jobs for which their aptitudes far exceed the requirements for that particular occupation. These clients tend to be bored at work or, at the very least, feeling stuck. So I help clients, through a thorough assessment of their abilities and their interests, find their “ideal” career.

How do you do that exactly?

I basically use two instruments. The General Aptitiude Test Battery (GATB) provides individuals with a list of their strengths or vocational aptitudes. This is a reality check as it tells clients what they are good at as far as career-related abilities. I also use the Canadian Work Preference Inventory (CWPI) which pulls out interest patterns as they relate to vocation. Then I compare the results of both of these test using a computer program which takes the clients aptitudes interests and matches them against the interests and aptitude patterns of all the jobs in Canada based on the National Occupational Classification. 

So, essentially, what I do is present a list of occupations to the client that fits their interests and abilities. A lot of tests only test for interests but don’t worry about aptitudes. So a person who took the test could go off and take some very expensive training and then drop out, not due to a lack of desire, but because they did not have the abiliity, or aptitude, to succeed.

Can you run me through the process?

Certainly. I first do a quick pre-interview where clients tell me what jobs they might be interested in, jobs they may have thought of us kids or since they entered the workforce. Then I run through a series of tests that help reveal their aptitudes, or strengths. I then run these results through the computer. I then sit down with the client and review the results. Rather than give them one career recommendation, clients receive a number of choices that they can go away and think about. I try not to make the decision for them because it is an awareness raising, rather than a prescriptive (telling them what to do), process. Then clients can go home and review their options and, if they choose, discuss these results with their partner and family before making a decision.

Did you have to take any special training?

Yes. I had to become certified in both the GATB and CWPI. However, before I could even be accepted into these certification programs I had to show I had a background in testing and debriefing test results which I had as a district school psychologist in Surrey. The certification starts with a 3-day seminar followed by a theory exam which demonstrates that you understand the statistical basis of these tests. Then you have to carry out three client assessments which are rated by a panel of experts. Only after succssfully completing these requirements are you considered proficient enough in the GATB and CWPI to administer anad interpret them.

Do you find any sort of pattern with the clients you see at Sunshine Coast?

Many of the clients I see at Sunshine Coast show high aptitudes for leadership and innovation but are in jobs that are reptitive with authoritative bosses. In other words, they are “idea people” working in jobs that are repetitive and boring or are natural leader in jobs where they encounter a lot of supervision. This is a definite pattern I have noticed.

I also have a lot of people working in “boring” jobs simply because they make a lot of money, don’t know their strengths, or have low self-esteem. For example, I had one client whose job it was to put oil pumps back together in the oil field. He was hopelessly bored. However, his aptitude test showed that he could have mastered high level university training. He was considering going back and taking some higher level courses to move up into a more intersting position. However, he was getting paid good money so I don’t know if he ever did go back to school and find his “true calling.”

Many of our clients don’t realize they have strengths, they think they are stupid. Then they have all of these problems with drugs and alcohol which makes them feel even feel worse about themselves. They may have had trouble in school due to specific learning disabilities that were never diagnosed. Perhaps their learning disabilities made it hard to put pen to paper. But it turns out that they score high, for example, on spatial- related abilities that come in handy when fixing things, putting things together, photography, etc. The work I do with clients can help them connect to these hidden talents.

Do you see a correlation between addiction and their careers?

An unsatisfying job can cause a great deal of frustration. They get angry. Say you have a person with low social abilities who is a teacher. He or she may get angry and frustrated with their students and blame them for a lot of his own problems when, in fact, he/she should really be in a job working with “things” rather than with “people.” Since the time we spend at work occupies so much of our working hours, it is not hard to see why people may resort to drugs or alcohol to deal with a poor career choice.

Can you tell me a success story?

Recently, I heard from one of our clients who was a drug dealer before he started treatment. During the process of my work with him he was able to see that he actually had a number of strengths that would make him an ideal tradesperson. So, the last I heard he was drug-free and was serving an apprenticeship as an electrician. This turn-around may not have been possible had he not realized that he had aptitudes for this type of work.

Interviewer: Thank you, Rosemary, for sharing your thoughts on this important topic

Rosemary: You’re welcome.

About Rosemary Patterson, Ph.D. 

Rosemary is a former School Psychologist and now a Career Awareness Specialist. Rosemary is certified to administer and interpret the General Aptitude Test Battery (GATB) and the Canadian Work Preference Inventory (CWPI). for more information about Rosemary check out her website at rosemarypatterson.org .

About the Author

Daniel Jordan is the General Manager of Sunshine Coast Health Center and hopes that these postings will help  take away some of the mystery often associated with addiction and its treatment.

The Construction Labour Relations Association of BC (CLRA BC) and the Bargaining Council of BC Building Trades Unions are to be commended for recognizing the importance of having a safe, healthy, substance-free work place. After a review of the Construction Industry of British Columbia Substance Abuse Testing and Treatment Program Policy it appears that both parties have created a substance abuse policy that protects employees’ health and safety while respecting their rights.

Why This New Substance Abuse Policy is so Important

As a provider of residential treatment that sees clients in the late stages of their addictions to drugs and/or alcohol, we at Sunshine Coast Health Center know firsthand the impact that addictions have on individuals and their families. We support any initiative that has the potential to intervene earlier before substance use becomes dependence. Families, teachers, and employers are truly the front line of addiction prevention efforts in our communities and that is why this new policy is so important.

What We Like About this Policy

There is a lot to like about the new Drug Testing & Treatment Program Policy developed by the BC building trades industry. Highlights of this bold initiative include:

1. collaboration between management and the union – for any drug-free workplace program to be effective it must have broad-based support. By involving both business and labour in the development and implementation of this policy, it sends a strong signal to the employer that substance abuse in the workplace is no longer acceptable.
2. built-in provisions to protect human rights – by appointing an independent third party to administer the Policy, employees have a higher likelihood that their personal information will be not be collected, used and disclosed by management or other employees. Section 7.01 also has provisions for employees to explain positive test to an independent medical professional (the Medical Review Officer) and retesting by a certified laboratory. Furthermore, Section Eight allows employees to disclose, or seek help for, a problem with drugs or alcohol without fear of discipline.
3. strict reinstatement requirements - in this labour climate where good help is in short supply, it is tempting to turn a blind eye to substance abuse in the workplace. To avoid rule bending, the BC building trade substance abuse policy leaves the decision to reinstate an employee for work with an independent third party. Furthermore, the same independent third party can prescribe treatment, counselling or drug rehabilitation without outside interference from the employer
4. ongoing monitoring – employees are subject to a probationary period of two years that includes follow-up drug testing. Follow-up drug testing, when included as part of a broader monitoring program, has a substantial impact on positive outcomes *.

(*) Medical professionals that risk losing their license to practice medicine for failing to comply with monitoring program have consistently shown above average abstinence rates.

Conclusion

The willingness of business and labour to put their differences aside is especially noteworthy considering the long history of labour conflict in British Columbia. Now it appears that BC, thanks to the leadership of the building trades, is providing much-needed leadership for business and labour across Canada.

If you are an employer and are considering a drug-free workplace program for your company, Sunshine Coast Health Center has created a free publication, You Are the Key: 10 Steps for Employers to a Drug-Free Workplace, To order a copy see the Order a Brochure section of our website.

To see an online version see the Construction Industry of BC Substance Abuse Testing and Treatment Program Policy section of the CLRA BC website.

About the Author

Daniel Jordan is the General Manager of Sunshine Coast Health Center and hopes that these postings will help  take away some of the mystery often associated with addiction and its treatment.