Working with Drug and Alcohol Users

Acknowledgements. Introduction. 1. Drug Use and Addiction. 2. Fundamental Components of Drug Counseling. 3. Transactional Analysis and the Theory of Addiction. 4. Why People Use Drugs and their Treatment. 5. The Harm Reduction Contract and Harm Reduction Counseling. 6. Assessment of the Drug and Alcohol User. 7. Drug Use Ambivalence. 8. Relapse Process Work. 9. Motivational Interviewing. 10. The Teenage Drug User. 12. Conclusion. Further Reading. References. Index.

Ian PaylorDepartment of Applied Social Science, Lancaster UniversityBritish Journal of Social Work (2013) 43 (4): 818-819.It is both pleasing (to me) and a matter of note that, during (another) majorperiod of reform in social work education and practice, we are seeing anumber of texts (e.g. Paylor et al., 2012; Galvani, 2012; Nelson, 2012) dealingwith supporting people with alcohol and drug problems. Substance use hasbeen identified as an area of educational need for all social workers (TCSW,2012b) and, along with the growth of texts in this area, there are a growingnumber of voices calling for social work education to prepare its practitionersappropriately for working with the substance use issues their service userspresent with.As I write, Qualifying Social Work Programmes (QSWPs) are having to restructureand revalidate their programmes for the third time in ten years and aconsiderable amount of time and effort is being absorbed in completing paperworkand regulation processes for the new regulating body, the Health and CareProfessions Council (HCPC), as well as ensuring programmes adhere to newStandards of Proficiency (HCPC, 2012) and the new Professional CapabilitiesFramework (TCSW, 2012a).Social work education is framed by those broad capability frameworks, somecore subject benchmarks (QAA, 2008) and requirements (Department ofHealth, 2002). The College of Social Work (TCSW) guidance on reformingthe social work curriculum includes ‘Substance misuse and addictions' in alist of topics which, it states, QSWPs ‘must' teach their students (TCSW,2012b). It has also issued newly developed curriculum guidance documents,one of which focuses on substance use (Galvani, 2011). However, both are guidancedocuments only. Similar guidance was provided to all QSWPs in 1992 bythe Central Council for the Education and Training of Social Workers(CCETSW), the body governing social work programmes at that time(CCETSW, 1992). That guidance failed to have any impact. Sadly, the professionhas again missed a trick regarding the obvious ‘elephant in the room'.Against that backdrop, Tony White's contribution to the growing canon ofwork on this subject is an interesting, if rather puzzling, addition to the literature.In fairness, social work does not get a mention - nor indeed should it.The book is aimed at drug counsellors and in particular those counsellorswho have an interest in the theory, developed by Eric Berne, of transactionalanalysis (TA). Arguably, the book is better described as an introduction to TAwhich uses drug and alcohol use as case studies to explore interpersonal relationshipsmapped to three ego-states of the individuals involved in TA: theParent, Adult and Child states.Viewed as such a text, it is a much stronger book and the (seemingly) ratherodd inclusion or order of things makes sense - the solitary chapter on teenagedrug users, for example, sits perfectly within the author's logic. Approachingthe book on second reading with this mindset opened up the text to a muchmore interpretative understanding, which was refreshing.The book is peppered with some illustrative diagrams (those of you familiarwith TA will recognise these) and the occasional case study, which I know studentswill appreciate. Those of you familiar with the issues surrounding thistopic will find little here but the basics - however, skip the first three chaptersand you will be rewarded with an unusual and engaging account of the use ofTA in this field.