by Rebecca Gray
Invited paper: Contemporary Drug Problems (WINTER 2010)
This study explores the impact of perceptions of shame on counselling in alcohol and other drug (AOD) settings. While... more
This study explores the impact of perceptions of shame on counselling in alcohol and other drug (AOD) settings. While some recent research points to the potential treatment barriers that result from discrimination against AOD clients by health care professionals, there is a dearth of research on the impact of shame and stigma on the work of allied health professionals, such as counselors and AOD workers. The qualitative data presented here are drawn from 17 in-depth interviews with counselors and AOD workers based in New South Wales, Australia. Counselors and other AOD workers perceive client shame as being compounded by the derogatory labels and stigmatisation often associated with problematic drug use. The article focuses on the professional tensions arising in managing stigma, alongside the alienating and isolating manifestations of shame, by exploring three themes: (1) the application of negative labels such as “addicts” and “junkies”; (2) the stigmatisation of AOD settings; and (3) the impact of labelling and stigmatisation on service provision. These findings point to the potential treatment barriers of stigma when counselling clients in AOD settings and highlight the fissures that can occur between colleagues when practice does not cohesively link with evolving knowledge around problematic drug use.
Download (.pdf) 
