| Course | ADC 665 Advanced Addiction Theories |
|---|---|
| Module | Module 2 |
| Paper type | Reflective and evidence paper |
| Length | About 1,079 words, 6 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Aspen University |
| Program | Psychology and Addiction Studies |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for ADC 665 Module 2
The Counselor in the Room: Attitudes, Empathy and the Working Alliance
Student Name
Psychology and Addiction Studies Program, Aspen University
ADC 665: Advanced Addiction Theories
Instructor Name
Month Day, Year
The Counselor in the Room: Attitudes, Empathy and the Working Alliance
Curtis, forty-one, works two-week rotations on an offshore platform in the Gulf and drinks heavily on his weeks home. He came back to Renee's program in Baton Rouge after his third relapse in twelve months. As he described the weekend, Renee noticed a thought: "He's not really trying." She also noticed she had shortened their last session by ten minutes. Curtis, Renee and the program are fictional, created to teach the material. This paper looks at what her reaction might mean for his treatment.
The Therapeutic Alliance
The therapeutic alliance is the working relationship between counselor and client: agreement on goals, agreement on the tasks of treatment and a bond of trust. Meier et al. (2005) reviewed studies of the alliance in substance misuse treatment. Early alliance consistently predicted whether clients engaged in and stayed in treatment. Whether it also predicted drinking or drug use once treatment ended varied from study to study, perhaps because staying in treatment is one route through which the alliance works. For Curtis, who had left treatment early twice, an alliance strong enough to keep him engaged mattered a great deal.
Empathy
Moyers and Miller (2013) reviewed evidence on therapist empathy, the skill of accurately understanding and reflecting a client's perspective. Across studies, counselors with higher empathy had clients with better drinking outcomes, and in some studies clients of counselors low in empathy did worse than clients receiving no counseling at all. The authors described low empathy as potentially toxic and argued that empathy should be considered when hiring and training counselors. A counselor who shortens sessions and thinks a client is not trying may be drifting toward the low end without knowing it.
Stigma Among Professionals
Van Boekel et al. (2013) reviewed studies of health professionals' attitudes toward patients with substance use disorders. Negative views were common: patients were seen as manipulative, poorly motivated or responsible for their condition. These attitudes were associated with less personal involvement, shorter visits and lower quality care, and patients sensed them, which reduced their trust and their willingness to seek help.
| Counselor attitude | How it shows | Likely effect on the client |
|---|---|---|
| "He's not really trying" | Shorter sessions; less curiosity | Less engagement; risk of dropout |
| Relapse as failure | Disappointment in tone | Shame; hiding future lapses |
| Curiosity about the relapse | Detailed, nonjudgmental questions | Learning about triggers; trust |
| Relapse as expected in a chronic condition | Calm, problem-solving stance | Faster return after lapses |
Looking Honestly at the Reaction
Renee traced her thought to two sources. One was her own fatigue; she had been seeing more clients than usual. The other was a belief she had absorbed early in her training, that relapse meant the client had not wanted recovery enough. Van Boekel et al. (2013) described exactly this kind of attribution. Seeing it as a common professional attitude rather than a personal failing made it easier to examine without either defending it or dwelling on it.
A Plan for Repair
Renee took the case to supervision, where her supervisor asked her to listen to a recording of her last session with Curtis. She heard fewer reflections and more closed questions than usual. She set a goal of at least two reflections for every question in her next three sessions with him, to be checked in supervision. In the next session, she also named the relationship directly: "Last time I think I rushed us. I want to understand what happened on your week home." Curtis was surprised, then described a pattern she had missed: he drank most on the first night home, when he felt like a stranger in his own house.
Reframing Relapse
Renee also revisited how she thought about relapse. In other chronic conditions, such as diabetes or hypertension, lapses in self-care are expected and treated as information. Applying the same frame to Curtis turned his relapse into a source of data about his first night home rather than a verdict on his commitment, and that shift was itself a change in attitude.
Attitudes and Caseload
Renee's fatigue was not only a private matter. She had taken on extra clients while a colleague was on leave, and her shortened session with Curtis came at the end of a long day. Van Boekel et al. (2013) noted that working conditions, such as limited time and lack of support, can reinforce negative attitudes toward patients with substance use disorders. Renee raised her caseload with her supervisor, who agreed to cap new admissions for her until the colleague returned. Protecting the alliance sometimes means protecting the counselor's capacity to offer it.
What Curtis Said
Once the conversation turned to his first night home, Curtis spoke more freely than he had in months. He described walking into a house where his children had their own routines, his wife had learned to manage without him and no one quite knew what to do with him. Drinking had become the way he got through the evening. Meier et al. (2005) noted that a stronger alliance helps clients disclose the information treatment depends on; this was the first time Curtis had said any of it. Together they planned a different first evening: a meal with the family he would cook himself and a call to his sponsor before bed.
Empathy as a Skill
Moyers and Miller (2013) emphasized that empathy, in the technical sense, is a learnable skill rather than a fixed trait, measured through behaviors such as accurate reflections. That framing helped Renee. Instead of trying to feel more patient, she could practice listening in specific ways and check her progress against recordings. Within three sessions, her ratio of reflections to questions had risen, and Curtis was staying for the full hour.
Beyond One Client
The reflection also raised a broader question: how many other clients had received a shortened session or a less curious counselor because of an attitude she had not noticed? Renee decided to review one recorded session a month in supervision, chosen at random, so that her empathy was checked across her whole caseload and not only when a case felt difficult.
Conclusion
Meier and colleagues showed the alliance predicts engagement and retention, Moyers and Miller showed that low empathy can harm clients and van Boekel and colleagues showed how common negative attitudes are among professionals. Renee's frustration with Curtis became an opportunity to check her own behavior, repair the alliance and learn something about his relapses that changed his plan.
References
Meier, P. S., Barrowclough, C., & Donmall, M. C. (2005). The role of the therapeutic alliance in the treatment of substance misuse: A critical review of the literature. Addiction, 100(3), 304-316. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1360-0443.2004.00935.x
Moyers, T. B., & Miller, W. R. (2013). Is low therapist empathy toxic? Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 27(3), 878-884. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0030274
van Boekel, L. C., Brouwers, E. P. M., van Weeghel, J., & Garretsen, H. F. L. (2013). Stigma among health professionals towards patients with substance use disorders and its consequences for healthcare delivery: Systematic review. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 131(1-2), 23-35. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2013.02.018
What the ADC 665 Module 2 instructions ask for
In the second module, ADC 665 usually asks for a paper on counselor attitudes and the therapeutic alliance, often with personal reflection. Your Aspen course's Module 2 instructions govern the details; the counselor and client here are invented. Define the alliance and review evidence linking it to engagement and outcomes. Review evidence on therapist empathy and on professional stigma. Reflect honestly on your own reactions to a client, naming specific thoughts. Propose concrete steps to strengthen the alliance, including supervision. Format sources in APA 7, and keep reflection grounded in evidence rather than drifting into confession, so the reader sees what you will do differently. If your prompt asks about a client, include what the client said once the relationship improved.
Inside the ADC 665 Module 2 example
Renee, the composite counselor, feels her patience slipping when Curtis, a forty-one-year-old offshore worker, returns after his third drinking relapse in a year. Meier, Barrowclough and Donmall review the alliance in substance misuse treatment and find early alliance predicts engagement and retention more consistently than later drinking. Moyers and Miller assemble evidence that low empathy predicts worse outcomes. Van Boekel and colleagues show that negative professional attitudes, such as seeing patients as manipulative, reduce the quality of care. A four-row table pairs attitudes with their likely effects, and a repair plan uses supervision, reflective listening and a frank conversation with Curtis. The paper ends by reframing relapse as information rather than failure.
Reading the ADC 665 Module 2 grading rubric
A strong attitudes paper links the evidence to a real reaction and turns both into action. This example reviews the alliance research accurately, noting where the link to outcomes is stronger and weaker. It treats the empathy evidence as a warning about the counselor's own behavior. The reflection names specific thoughts, such as "he's not trying," and traces them to stigma rather than excusing or dwelling on them. The repair plan is practical: supervision, a skill to practice and a direct conversation with the client about the relationship. The paper shows how attitudes become measurable behaviors. It also extends the reflection beyond one client, noting how fatigue and caseload affect every relationship a counselor holds.
ADC 665 Module 2 help from the desk
Reflective papers often stay vague ("I need to be more patient") or turn into confessions without a plan. Name the specific thought, link it to evidence about its effects and say what you will do. Report the alliance evidence carefully: early alliance predicts staying in treatment more reliably than it predicts later substance use. Use the empathy research to look at your own behavior, not only at colleagues. Include supervision. And remember that relapse is common in chronic conditions; reframing it can change the counselor's reaction as much as the client's. Name the supervision step and the skill you will track, so the reader can see how change will be checked.
Write yours, or have the desk draft it
This paper is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Aspen University document. Read it for the moves, then write your own to the instructions in your classroom. If you want one built to your exact prompt and rubric, the first custom sample is free and arrives in 24 to 48 hours.
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ADC 665 Module 2 questions, answered
What does ADC 665 Module 2 usually ask for?
Aspen's ADC 665 covers counselor attitudes and the therapeutic alliance in this module, so a reflective paper grounded in evidence is typical. Check your Module 2 prompt.
Does the therapeutic alliance matter in addiction treatment?
Meier, Barrowclough and Donmall found early alliance consistently predicts engagement and retention, with less consistent links to later substance use.
Can a counselor's lack of empathy harm clients?
Moyers and Miller reviewed evidence that low therapist empathy is associated with worse drinking outcomes, which led them to describe it as potentially toxic.
Where can I find a free ADC 665 Module 2 sample paper?
The entire paper is on this page: evidence on alliance, empathy and stigma, an honest reflection on a counselor's frustration and a repair plan.
Do health professionals stigmatize people with addictions?
Van Boekel and colleagues found negative attitudes are common among health professionals and are linked to less engagement and poorer care.