C. M. C is 37 years old man who lives currently in Houma, Louisiana, and has been married for five years with two children. As a father, he is very dedicated and determined to provide love, support, and guidance to his family because he does not want them to suffer like him when he was young. His parents divorced when he was 13 years old something that plunged him into alcoholism and drug abuse to overcome the stress associated with loneliness and abandonment. His family goal is to instill healthy morals and educational values in his children so that as they grow up, they will be nurturing these values for their benefit in the future.
Education-wise, he graduated in December 2006 from Nicholls State University with a bachelor’s degree in general Family and Consumer Sciences majoring in Child, Family, and Social Services. He is currently employed at Terrebonne Addictive Disorder Clinic in Houma, Louisiana as a counselor in training and his duties and responsibilities include facilitation of group sessions with adolescent teens referred by the court systems or other agencies, conducting client assessment, and engaging in individual sessions with each client before group sessions.
He is very passionate about working with individuals who suffer from mental illness and substance abuse because he can identify with the same through life experiences. When his parents divorced at the tender age of 13 years old and were unable to cope with the situation, he resorted to alcoholism and substance abuse seeking to comfort his feelings of abandonment, loneliness, and guilt. Substance abuse and alcoholism made him lose his potential and goals. He acknowledges that his parents taught him what is right but he come to prove it late when he had completely plunged into alcoholism and substance abuse.
At the age of 17 years, he was aware of his complete addiction to alcohol and drugs. The addiction led him to drop out of Southeastern Louisiana University when he was still in the first year in 1993 and forced him to do odd jobs for three years because that was the only means of surviving. The addiction to alcohol and drugs became worse over the years deteriorating his hopes and dreams for a better life and by the age of 25 years, he was homeless and lacked all social and emotional skills needed to succeed in life as it seemed that life had reached its end when he attempted suicide.
The alcoholism and drug abuse addition deteriorated his life leading to his admission to a residential treatment center, Assisi Bridge House, where his life changed. At the Assisi Bridge House, counselors made him undergo twelve steps of Alcoholics Anonymous, which made a huge positive impact on his life. His treatment experiences at the Assisi Bridge House were not only life-changing but also educational because he developed skills such as coping skills, social skills, and communication skills that have enhanced his potential in life as a person, student, husband, and father. These tremendous experiences have made him develop a sense of value and awareness, which is an important catalyst when working with others in identifying and empathizing with the feelings of others.
In his career development, he was very passionate and determined in exploring his abilities for he was quite unsatisfied working in general employment and taking the part-time job because they proved to be unrewarding and mundane. His real experiences in life and addiction have shaped his career development because he has great potential in working with individuals who suffer from mental illness and substance abuse. His additional experiences in working at the Terrebonne Addictive Disorder Clinic as a counselor in training, at Assisi Bridge House as a residential assistant, recovery process through the twelve steps of Alcoholic anonymous, and as a job coach for individuals with mental illness have helped him understand and broaden his career development as a professional social worker.
He is overzealous in ambition believing that change is inevitable in his clients, but this has turned out to be his weakness if not properly balanced, because his desire to assist clients has made him work extra hard than the willingness of his clients, leading to exhaustion and resentment when he does not achieve his desire. He is quite aware of the weakness and ways on how to balance his ambition and reality to avoid harming himself and the client.
In the pursuit of his career dream as a social worker, he wants to attend a master’s degree at Tulane University with great expectation that the university will provide the best opportunity for him to achieve his goals and desires. Despite financial constraints, he is very determined to meet his goals for he will be working full time at the Terrebonne Addictive Disorder Clinic in Houma while attending his part-time masters at Tulane University. Furthermore, moral support from his family and financial assistance in terms of student loans will enhance his ability in the pursuit of his dreams. His great dream in achieving a masters is to build a professional career in social work that will enable him to take care of his family and clients.