This summer, I was able to have an opportunity to do my Psychology internship at Samaritan/Daytop Village, which is a facility that deals with substance and alcohol abuse. I’m currently shadowing and observing professional counselors in the field. The population I’m working with are women, and so far I couldn’t be happier with this experience. I have always been so interested in working with counseling and addiction is also an interesting thing to work with.

There are so many different reasons people start using. I’m someone who thoroughly enjoys listening to other people’s stories and I consider myself understanding and compassionate. I get that people’s environments sometimes effect and impact them in ways they cannot easily control, I get that people’s families can be destructive and broken. I have been here now four times in two weeks and I have learned more about life than any classroom or other job could teach me. I have sat in on group sessions, counselor meetings led by the head and assistant director and have even gotten the chance to go into their records room and do some research on individual clients. Knowing the backgrounds and stories of these women is half of the solution to helping them and finding the right treatment plan for each individual woman. Knowing their history and past gives a better understanding of why they may have chosen the road they did, gives you that understanding that maybe to them, the wrong side of the tracks is all they know. We all follow what we know, good or bad. It has truly been a mind-blowing and educating experience so far and I’m not even close to finished learning.

I have noticed in life that there is such a negative opinion towards addicts and it angers me because people truly have no idea why people choose this route. I have heard addicts be called a “waste to society” and yes, it’s true, if you’re an addict, you may not be the most positive and productive member of society but with the right help from people who genuinely care, they can be made into positive and productive humans. I think it is wonderful that some of these women got the option between prison and here because the real waste is seeing people rot their life behind bars for something like addiction that can be worked on. I rather see them get the help they need so they can turn their lives around and make society a better place. One girl I talked to who went to prison for 10 years, relapsed and now is at Daytop and wants to become a counselor one day. Yes, she made the same mistake twice but maybe if she didn’t go through what she went through, she wouldn’t have aimed to be a counselor.

We all should know that darkness can bring light. I believe people can change for the better with the right support. Society must be more understanding, compassionate and sympathetic. Not everyone grows up in a healthy and loving environment. Being an alcoholic or drug addict does not make someone a bad person necessarily and there are many success stories of people cleaning up and living a healthy fulfilled life. I can’t wait to keep learning and growing from this experience.