Think of your task as a visual continuum. “Imagery” is the key with this intervention.

The Old You – New You gap below is the change time period involved. It can represent one hour, one day, one intervention or decades. Some say Stages of Change.

“The Old You _________________________________________ “The New You”

Compare and contrast the don’t want (Old You) image (left) with the ideal (New You) image desired (right).

The “Old You” don’t want could be abusing alcohol and other drugs. It could be anger management problems. Any kind of abuse. CTC.

The “New You” compelling image on the right is the person you want to be. See it, V, hear it, A, and feel it, K. VAK. Use all your senses to anchor this desired state.

Consider ‘Old You’ problems and consequences as you do this. On the left, construct a picture or a hologram of yourself in that situation (using alcohol or other drugs, under arrest, in jail, hiding…) that you definitely do not want anymore. Compare that with what you do want, on the right.

Everyone has issues. Attorneys and clinicians can choose a personal problem to work on as you read this. We all have issues. Right? Choice is better than no choice.

Give yourself a break today. You have a choice. It’s not hopeless and you are fully capable. 

You can see a change map on page 15 of Drug Court Treatment: The Verdict. Amazon.com.

The CLE class for Judges and Attorneys cover this in detail. So does the CEU class at standokmanus.com.
The CEU class is available at Udemy – https://lnkd.in/g9JUVuVr

If you want help with an alcohol or other drug problem, referred to as a Substance Use Disorder, you have come to the right place. I care about your life, family and your happiness.

I am a certified substance abuse counselor – with 38 years of sobriety. I’ve had no triggers, cravings or urges since my clean date. Some call this their Birthday.

Not your belly button birthday. Your “New You” clean and sober date. I’ve noticed that people who are serious about and successful with sobriety know their ‘clean date’ when asked. Even if they’ve never heard the term, they get it.

A clean and sober date is the day you committed to abstinence and maintained it. After 38 years I believe I have “Transcended” what was a deadly, progressive problem for me. I surely would have been dead by now. Nothing has killed more people than alcohol diseases, accidents and crimes.

If you are committed to sobriety, and you truly want to put the disease and harmful behavior behind you, Congratulations! You will find the truth here.

But remember, “Above all, to thine own self be true!” Remember that phrase. Why? That’s a fair question. Here’s the answer:

“The Man in the Glass”
By Peter Dale Wimbrow Sr.
When you get what you want in your struggle for self
And the world makes you king for a day
Just go to the mirror and look at yourself
And see what that man has to say.
For it isn’t your father, or mother, or wife
Whose judgment upon you must pass
The fellow whose verdict counts most in your life
Is the one staring back from the glass.
He’s the fellow to please – never mind all the rest
For he’s with you, clear to the end
And you’ve passed your most difficult, dangerous test
If the man in the glass is your friend.
You may fool the whole world down the pathway of years
And get pats on the back as you pass
But your final reward will be heartache and tears
If you’ve cheated the man in the glass.”

Digest that thought. You can copy this and tape it around your house, office, or anywhere that it will help you. Frame it and put it in a place of importance in your house. Put it where it will be a constant reminder.

You can bs me all you want. And get pats on the back by your bs slippery people user friends too. But..?

You’ll get a lot of that here. Here’s the deal. You have formed some very limiting, permission-granting beliefs about alcohol and other drug use. We need to undo those limiting, harmful beliefs first.

Then we will replace them with new, healthy, empowering beliefs that will get you what you truly want?

Let me ask you: 1. What do you really want? 2. How will you know when you get it? 3. What is stopping you?

Whether you are looking for help with AOD, alcohol and other drug problems, or you are a counselor who needs CEUs, continuing education units, you will find it here under the classes tab above. Click on classes and get the information to meet your goals.

If you want help with a drug or alcohol problems, you can call me at 808 385 4550. Feel free to read the post in this blog. They were all written with you in mind.

MI, Motivational Interviewing skills are useful in treatment for drug court clients. So is knowing ‘tells’ and baseline cues.

You might use a MI question like, “if you could picture yourself successfully completing drug court, what would that look like?”

You might notice that your right-handed client looks ‘up to the right’. This is a visual construct. It’s a normal response for a right-handed person.

A leftie would be the opposite, usually.

Some say you can tell if a person is telling the truth or lying by watching their eye movements, skin tone and body language. These are called sensory acuity skills. They are next level skills.

There will be no long-term behavior changes for criminal offenders unless you first address and change permission-granting core beliefs and values. This is part of that change process.

That means there will be no reduction in relapse or costs of crime and treatment if you don’t change the clients’ belief systems first.

This is another skill level regarding meeting your clients where they are. You are establishing a baseline for how clients respond.

These concepts are covered in detail in the “Criminal Justice and Addictions Counseling” CEU/CLE classes at standokmanus.com.

You can take the class on Udemy also. “Criminal Justice and Addictions Counseling.”

The CBT map image below helps to explain the criminal-addict behavior cycle to clients. You can visually show them and discuss where they got tripped up in the cognitive behavior cycle.

Beliefs lead to behavior according to Albert Ellis, ABC-DE Theory. This is true for us too. The map image is from Drug Court Treatment: The Verdict. Amazon.com

If you would like to discuss your problems with alcohol and other drugs you can call me now at 808 385 4550.