1-1 Journal: The 12 Core Functions Do you feel ready to be a substance abuse counselor? Why or why not? I do believe that I am ready to become a substance abuse counselor, that is, if I wanted to become one. I say that I am ready because I was addicted to meth for about 17 years, and it wasn't easy getting off/getting away from it. It took more than one, two, three, even four times for me to stop using because I didn't want to stop. This coming Easter I will have 15 years clean from my drug of choice; meth. I have been in several treatment programs/facilities, and California's drug court, twice. I even spent a year in county jail, which was one of my "inpatient programs" ordered by one of the toughest drug court judges in Northern California. When I was sentenced to a year by the judge, I was about 10-12 weeks pregnant, and I had an abortion scheduled for the following week. But that was when I got remanded in court and sentenced to a year in "the judges substance abuse program." I had a decision to make, I could either get an abortion in custody by a jailhouse doctor or I could keep the baby. When I was remanded in court I was married and I had a 6-year-old son, but my husband was not the father of this baby, which was no secret to him, our marriage had been over for a longtime at that point. My son would be with his father while I did this year in county jail, so I knew he would be okay. So, I decided to not get an abortion and to have this baby, because I didn't want to be alone, I wanted this baby to ride out this jail sentence with me, which he did. I gave birth to another son while incarcerated, and because I was in drug court, I never lost custody of my baby. After I had him, I was transferred to a facility that took mothers and their infants. Now my son is 23 years old and leaving for the Army on January 22, 2024. He is the best thing, the best decision I have ever made, not terminating the pregnancy. My oldest son, who will be 30 years old in June, is now a
detective in Northern California. Even though he lives in California and my other son, and I live in Ohio, we are still very close. I feel that I am more than qualified to screen and assess a person who might possibly need treatment, because of the genuine experience I have with using, and being addicted to meth. In my opinion, I know what works, and what does not work, when it comes to not only getting off drugs, but also staying off drugs. Stopping is the easy part, the hard part is staying off. What I see as my hopes, strengths, reservations, and limitations concerning substance