Therapeutic Community Counselors: The Effects of Training and Personal Substance Abuse History on Job Stress and Professional Efficacy

ABSTRACT

One hundred and fifty-four counselors working in an in-prison Therapeutic Community (TC) were surveyed. Participants were categorized according to previous personal history with substance abuse (history/no history) and formal training in substance abuse treatment (training/no training). The results indicated that prior training interacted with history of abuse such that formal training reduced both duty-related and interpersonal stress for those counselors with no history of substance abuse, but increased both duty-related and interpersonal stress for counselors who had a history of substance abuse. Both professional as well as interpersonal efficacy (i.e., the belief that one is competent in their treatment and interactions with clients) were significantly higher for those with formal training and a substance abuse history respectively. The implications for role ambiguity and role conflict in TC staffing and training are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Therapeutic communities
• substance abuse treatment
• job stress
• job training