Social skills, therapy and thecounseling psychology of motivation in a withdrawal community of individuals who have served in prison: A Case in Northern Greece

The present work is a part of a thesis which was completed in the context of a 600-hour internship supervised by clinical psychologists in the field of addictions under the auspices of Democritus University of Thrace. The study that received a 10/10 total mark, specifically addresses the pre-integration stage of a detoxification center with mandatory residence, involving ex-drug users who were have previously served in prison. The program lasts for about two years in total, while the main inclusive programlasts for one year. The counseling stage is the vestibule of the residence. The present study is about motivational status of the substance-users triggered by the intern-therapist during the first meetings of the counseling stage. The method used was a mixture of CBT and group therapy but all adapted to the context of the community and the people attending. Personal stories, individual hope for the future as well as social environment were raised as issues with various questions and descriptions to reach the ideal motivation for each candidate. In general, the cohesion of the team and the cultivation of motivation proved to be of great importance in the process of identifying the motivation to continue the process of joining the community of KE.TH.E.A. Individual, except for group therapy might be a proposal for the application of this extremely interesting model of community regarding substance abuse. Last but not least, people who are about to join the therapeutic stage seems that should not see it as an extended period of their time in prison because they follow rules.