Jodie Bridges

Comm1010-14
Professor Larkin
May 2, 2016

Communication is essential to life, you cannot not communicate.

Comm 1010 was fun and It was very important I learned a lot in this class
and the teacher made it fun, he always had a funny or just good story to
help us get the concepts he was trying to teach. I learned concepts I can use
in all aspects of my life from my job, school, work, personal and more. Each
assignment we did had communication principals and taught us how to
present it in a business setting through written, verbal or nonverbal
communication.
The first assignment we did was an interview I was the one to give the
interview. It really helped me learn about the career I was going into and how
to conduct an interview, how to word the questions, and what is expected
from the interviewer and interviewee. This information will help me in the
future to move up the food chain and be able to give interviews and even
interview for various things. I learned how to manage conflict and criticism
which are a part of life, when dealing with people there will always be both.
Knowing how to manage conflict will save relationships, will help me to deal
better with clients and coworkers and anyone I deal with. Criticism is
something that is hard to deal with on either side. Learning how to give it
constructively is important to save relationships and be professional at work.
Dealing with it in an appropriate manner will help me become a better
person and better worker, its all a part of life and there is something to learn
from hearing criticisms in my personal life and at work. I will need to work
with other people all the time in many situations. The group project helped
me to know how to work in a group of people, how to set boundaries and
make each of our times together really count. It is hard to get used to
speaking in front of people and giving speeches even thought it was hard I
really appreciated the presentation portion of this class. With the career Im
going into I will have to be in front of groups a lot of the time and knowing
how to come up with and present information is essential, I think the more
you give speeches the better a person will become .

As humans we deal with people every day it is important to know how

to communicate, it helps to build lasting relationships, do better at work and
know how to get what you want. I feel that communication helps all of us to
respect other people and have them respect us as well. Communication is
essential in life and Im glad I took this class to learn how to do it better, I
definitely think about how I am communicating with others more often. It will
help me to be a better person and know how to get further in every area of
my life because you cant not communicate. I left my Favorite assignment on
the format it was turned in as because that was half of the learning process
and half the fun!

Favorite assignment
Jodie Bridges
Interview Project Part 2
Comm 1010 Section 14
February 19, 2016

Date: February 19, 2016

To: Professor Joseph Larkin
From: Jodie Bridges
Subject: Formal Interview Analysis

I am going into the field of substance abuse counseling, I was

able to interview Olivia Verbeck and learn about how she got to

this point in her career. I learned about the education that is

needed to enter into the field. What kinds of duties and
responsibilities of a Substance Use Disorder Counselor, and what
kind of effects this job has on a person and some things I can do
help me cope with the stress.
This memo summarized what have learned about this career and
the interviewing process.
Career Analysis
Educational Requirement for this Field
Olivia was very informative but she was unsure about the new
licensing requirement. She gave me a lot of information on how
she got where she is and advice on what steps I should take next.
When she went to school it was just the LACs program that was
required, you just needed to take that program, get hours at an
internship and take the state board test to receive a license. The
title for this career has been changed from Substance Abuse
Counselor to Substance Use Disorder Counselor. She told me to
contact DOPL for more information on the new licensing
requirements. I also need to contact academic advisor at schools
with this program to learn more about the programs they offer.

She has a masters degree in Clinical mental health counselling

and specializes in substance abuse so she is able to do more with
the client. She also holds a licensee in Substance Use Disorder
Counseling and is licensed in domestic violence. She
recommended doing a program that I could get a bachelors
degree as well as the education for Substance Use Disorder
Counselor so I wouldnt have to do more work. I think this is very
smart because I would like to go further than just a Substance Use
Disorder Counselor.

Like any job there are things in the field that you will learn along
the way with experience, you are also required to get so many
hours every 2 years to maintain your license and I would get
those hours going to conferences. She indicated that a memory
and cognitive learning class as well as a multi-cultural class were
the classes she feels were very important for her in school. She
plans on going further saying that once you start you want to
keep going and learning. Her next step would be a phycologist
that specializes in cognitive neuroscience. She has been working
for 5 years, and in 5 years she sees herself at the end of a
neuroscience program doing more to help the field of domestic
violence.

What a Substance Abuse Counselor does

Even though they are limited in what they can do Substance Use
Disorder Counselors have a lot of responsibility. They are in
charge of creating and developing groups, creating curriculum,
case management, Some individual counseling, meeting with
people seeing where there at with their goals, what can you be
doing differently, and coming up with relapse prevention plans. .
The amount of clients she sees each day depends on what kind of
therapy is being done. If meeting one on one, she can see 1 client
per hour but it depends on what kind of interaction she has. She
does domestic violence groups, mens or womens with 4-5
clients, substance abuse groups with 7-10 clients at 2-3 groups a
day. At capstone she does everything so she takes payments,
urine analysis, cleans, it just depends on where you work and how
much education you have.

At Capstone she keeps track of her clients by using Best Notes, a

digital system to document every client interaction. She uses it to
document what she want them to accomplish, what they said, and

she will check back on a certain date to confirm compliance.

Another piece of advice is you dont ever want to work harder
the client is because you want to hold and model good boundaries
so they will step up to the plate. Making the client feel
comfortable is important she does that by just building a
relationship with them and by being herself, showing them that
you care to gain there trust. Its ok to refer the client to someone
else that can help them in a way you cant. Oliva indicated that
she works a lot with people on probation or in the court system
that were ordered to have substance use evaluations. As part of
their sentencing they are required to complete what is
recommended. She reports to probations offices and judges there
is a fair chance of working with people in the court system.

She said that in the field there are a lot of full time jobs and its
common to work nights and weekends doing groups or working at
an inpatient facility. If you work in outpatient is mostly people
coming in after work. There is an increase from Halloween to
Christmas with people getting new charges during those months,
it slows down in the summer. I found that the median pay was 18
dollars an hour, Olivia said that was a high wage and it depended
on the facility you work at and how much experience you have.
15 dollars was a more normal wage, if you work for the state they
would offer benefits but it depends on where you work.

Personal effect of this profession

This job definitely has an emotional effect on a person in this field
and self-care and stress management is important. Olivia said she
has been really fortunate and has only lost one client to a heroin
over dose. She is still affected after 3 years when she thinks
about him or hears her clients name. She said when she hears
hard like that it affects her the most.

Some of the things she does to combat the emotional stress is

running, drinking lots of water, trys to leave work at work and do
fun things to help build a buffer. No matter what some things you
see and hear will affect you. With any job you will have stress and
you have to do your best to leave work at work. Some things she
does after a hard day is takes a longer route, listens to music, and
gives herself time before returning home. Talking to coworkers is
also a good way to cope and help clients they call it staffing it.
It also affects her family in a good way being able to use the
conflict management and effective communication skill she has to
talk to her kids and work through problems they may be facing.

The best thing about her job is seeing someone be set free go
from no hope to haveing a job, a car and hope. The worst is
waiting for someone to come around and having resistance. Her
greatest achievement inspires me, it is having a little part in
helping in whatever the clients life is now she said that, is all
worth it the stress the heart ache, and that what she does
matters and makes a difference. Open mindedness and
acceptance she feels are the most important traits to hold in the
field.

Clearing House Questions

You will always be learning and you wont know everything, dont
be afraid to be willing to help and just be there for someone while
their hurting. This is the biggest piece of advice she gave me. She
said this isnt a field for everyone but if you have a passion and
willingness then go for it. Olivia said that being knowledgeable in
substance abuse has helped her as a therapist because a lot of
time they go hand in hand.

Interview Analysis
Analysis of Substance Use Disorder Counselor as my Career
Choice
I am going into this field because I have personal experience and
family that are still struggling with substance abuse. I want to
spend my life doing something worthwhile to help others in an
area that I know is devastating. I am very grateful to have
participated in this interview I have learned more about the
education I need what I will be doing on the job and how to cope
with the stress of working in this field. Olivia gave me a lot of
advice and insight into what is ahead and things that will help me
succeed.

Analysis of my Interview Process

I recorded the interview I think that hearing how I sounded will
help me to know the areas I need to improve in. At first I can tell I
was really nervous and not confident in asking some of the
questions. When doing an interview I need to feel comfortable
with my questions and practice more to feel good about what I
am asking. I need to take out works like kind of, when I speak I
need to be more confident and concise. I got off work a little later
then I would have liked and went to the wrong place and ended
up being 5 minutes late. In the future I need to make better
arrangement, being late contributed to my nervousness. By the
end of the interview I was more confident and not using so many
unnecessary words.

Im glad I was able to participate in this interview I learned a lot

about what next step to take. Olivia game me very good advice

and what to look for as I am navigating this career. I have learned

that I have a lot of school to go through, I want to go further than
just Substance Use Disorder Counseling. There is a lot of stress
associated with the career but there are things you can do to
cope with it. The thought of interviewing someone was very scary
but I have learned a lot about the process and things I can do feel
more comfortable during the process. I think it will help me in all
interviews.

4261s Peggy Dr.

West Valley City, Utah 84120

February 12, 2016

Mrs. Olivia Verbeck

Capstone Counseling
357 South. 200 East.
Salt Lake City, Utah 84111

Dear Mrs. Verbeck:

Thank you so much for taking time out of you day to meet with
me. You have given me great information about what my next
step should be, what effects it has personally and some things I
can do to cope with this along with a lot of other things and some
really good advice.

I will defiantly look for a program that I can get a bachelors

degree and the LACs at the same time. I had no idea about the
internship or what was coming next and feel more confident in
taking the next step. I did not know a lot about what they
actually do, I think it is important to know about the field I am
entering into. I had an idea about the emotional stress and
possible personal effects of the profession and Im grateful to
know that it has good effects too and some ways to be able to
deal with it like exercise and putting time between yourself and
home after a hard day.

You are an inspiration and I appreciate so much you meeting with

me, I learned a lot about this profession and doing an interview
and I am excited about what the future holds.

Sincerely,

Jodie Bridges