Clinical psychologist and head of the clinical department at the Cape Town Drug Counselling Centre (CTDCC), Cathy Karassellos has seen it all. This is her story.

“The first step to recovery is to show up. That’s it. Users need to be motivated and ready for change if they are going to get into effective recovery. Even if initially quite unmotivated, there are certain factors that can enable a user to become ready for change. The motivational interviewing model of counselling we use at CTDCC helps the user to take ownership of the concerns around his or her drug problems. Family involvement right from the start of the treatment process helps families to set appropriate boundaries. Families need to be educated and realise that they can’t rescue the user. It’s a lifelong process with no quick fixes.

In all the years I have been with the CTDCC I have seen many people come through our system. Some have been given ultimatums by parents or teachers, and all of them have one thing in common — they are not bad people, but are people in need of help. The stigma around substance abuse should be broken for everyone to realise that users do not exist in isolated groups. They are our families and our kids.

The challenging nature of addiction as an illness makes this a specialised field of social work and counselling. I chose this profession, as it’s never boring or ordinary. One key example of this field is the dishonesty and manipulation of users, which is symptomatic of the illness. Users engage in secretive behaviour to protect their habit — this means confidentiality and trust must be approached differently to many other counselling contexts where families are actively involved in the treatment process. We have seen the difference it makes in entire families’ lives to give them a sense of empowerment through the facilitation of our workshops.”

If you have a problem or know of someone that needs help, call the City of Cape Town 24-hour drug helpline on 0800 4357 48. For more stories, follow the #ihaveadrugproblem hashtag.

Let’s kick Cape Town’s drug problem, together.

This initiative was made possible by the City of Cape Town, Making Progress Possible. Together.

*From The Cape Town Drug Counselling Centre Annual Report 2013