Stephen Ratcliff

In working with individuals who are struggling with co-occurring mental health problems and addiction, its not totally uncommon to have a client arrive to session intoxicated to a degree. This raises a number of ethical questions as well as the dilemma of whether or not to continue the session. Client safety is paramount of course. It makes sense to me that a person struggling from the intense emotional overload of psychological trauma or severe depression may self-medicate with a substance such as marijuana, yet therapeutic work with an individual who is intoxicated is typically of limited substance.

My heart weeps in horror as I watch the scenes from Newtown, Connecticut where a man shot and killed over twenty individuals. I can only imagine the terror the parents living in this rural town of just over 27,000 people have felt all morning as news spread about this devastating incident. The faces of children crying are broadcasted on television sets all over our nation as people sit glued to the latest news blip from this latest in a series of devastating shootings.