Advice for becoming a Drug/Alcohol Support Worker

[jamie05]

Hi can anyone give me any advice or suggestions to enable me to become a Drug/Alcohol Support Worker. I have no qualifications or working experience in this field but I have had personal experience of living with a Drug Addict for 4 years.

[jacklink]

why not volunteer to gain work experience, thats what im doing at the moment, i cant get a job at the moment so im volunteering in an area id like to work and they may take me on, (its also one way of getting a job too). Try

http://www.do-it.org/

[lynzpower]

hiya Jamie

My advice to you would be to find a local charity with whom you can volunteer to get some experience under your belt.

I wanted to work in social services ( chid protection) and started by vounteering with families in need to a) get some professional knowledge b) to see how resiliant i was. i did get a job in social services,about 6months later

[PasturesNew]

Another website for Do It is: http://www.do-it.org.uk

But I can't get it to work at the moment. I think my PC's messing me about...

Edit: ah, both urls work now

[ragz]

Hi Jamie05, firstly I'd like to say - Good on you, for wanting to use your experience to a positive end, I have been in a similar situation and also considered working in that field. One comment I would like to add though (and please don't take it the wrong way), this is why I haven't gone down that road -- Have you come to terms with your experience and your feelings about the whole addiction issue? You will be no good as a councillor to someone if you haven't, if you hold a grudge or have hurt feelings, cannot see the problem from their side etc.
I hope you see what I mean, I really don't want to put you off but the process of training and working in that field when you have such close experience with someone you care about can bring up a lot of emotions and may be rather stressful, especially if it was recent. As I said, I am in a similar situation and would love to use my experience to help people (actually I read there are councillors for the relatives of the addicts which is what I'd really love to do) but I realised that I did not have the issues fully resolved within myself yet and decided to wait a few years and see if I was ready then.

But again, good on you, I hope you get into it if that's what you want to do. The volunteering idea was a great suggestion and also the OU offer councilling courses etc (which you can get your fees paid for) if you wanted to look into it further.
Best of luck xx

[ruby_eskimo]

Voluntary work is a good idea but in an area as sensitive as this it can't always be possible. Try your local adult education centre or college for evening counselling classes. I have a friend who is doing this at the moment. It can be a little costly but there are grants etc available for some people. Good luck with using your experience to help others.

[jamie05]

Hi Ragz, thanx for your reply. I have no longer got any issues or resentments towards my husband and haven't had for a long time, I am so proud of him he has been straight for almost 5 years, completely turned his life around and worked so hard to get us back on track. Its hard to believe that 5 years ago we were literally homeless and having to live with family and last May we bought our own house in a lovely area. He is literally my hero (cheesy i no, but its true). I hope you feel better about things soon. XXX.

[ragz]

Thanks Jamie, I too am sooo proud of my OH, he has managed to go from a Junkie skipping work in secret a few years ago, to someone who has built up a succesful business in less than a year by working incredibly hard evenwhen he felt like cr*p and is now happily providing for us and our 2 boys. I don't think what you said is cheesy at all, I feel the same way, I cannot believe how well he has done but as it's only been a few years I think I am still not fully at peace with it all yet, it'll come though! (As you have shown)
Congratulations on buying a house! That's great, we are hoping to be in a similar position soon, isn't it great when you beat the odds eh?!

[suewiththeblues]

depending on where you are in the country a lot of agencies offer voluntary work - addaction, turning point etc and i know a lot of people who have got permanent jobs that way. all the best, it is a very demanding job emotionally ! and paperwork abounds!