Karen Bates

You’ve heard of the game of curling, haven’t you? If you watched the 2010 Winter Olympics you may have seen it. It is a sport in which players slide stones across a sheet of ice towards a target area. The team uses brooms to maneuver the stone by altering the ice either by sweeping quickly and producing a smoother surface with less friction or sweeping lightly so the stone slows down or goes in a curved path caused by the friction on the ice. At first glance, the game looks sort of silly. You wonder just what the heck is going on. That is the analogy I tell some of my clients when they come into therapy. You may not quite understand exactly what is going on but the therapy process is going to take you to that target as slowly or as quickly as you prefer. I’ll slow down the sweeping or I’ll speed it up so we can get to that target together.

Typically a person seeks treatment because of external motivators: the courts, the schools, the parents, the angry spouse. Think about it…a person is going to tell me that something is wrong with me and I don’t think that there is. Yeah, sign me up for that! I’m calling for an appointment tomorrow. And in addition to someone telling that person that they have a problem, I’m telling them that they have a problem with alcohol or marijuana because in most court-ordered cases, drunk-driving or possession charges are one of those commonly used substances.

Have you ever been to an AA meeting?  Do you drink?  Are you a recovering addict?  These are just some of the questions that I readily recall I am asked by clients I counsel for substance abuse treatment.  Oftentimes I’m enlightened.  According to some clients, a person can’t really help an addict unless they’ve been one.  What? I thought all the requirements I needed to help was a certificate or degree stating you had the training and education to do counseling.  What’s with all the questions?

I see children from the age of 5 years-old, adolescents and adults. I have the wonderful opportunity to provide outpatient services to a variety of people. Our agency offers adolescent and adult substance abuse treatment as well as behavioral health and we are enhancing our co-occurring continuum of care services. In everything that I do, I always try to specialize while also looking to grow my skill set.