Some formats don’t show up on the web page, but are required for APA format.  For example, each paragraph should be indented 5-7 spaces.   Also, your paper should be double spaced.  Please make sure your paper is in that format. Anything in italics is my comments, and should not be in the text of your paper. The writing in blue, normal font is the actual paper.

(The first page of your paper is the cover page.  It is NOT included in the page limit but it should have a running head and be numbered. A running head is composed of the title or the student's last name and the page number. It is on the right side of the paper.)

                                                                                                        Student     1

(The following information should be centered both horizontally and vertically.)

(Title)                           John Doe, An Army Counselor

(Author)                             By:  Psychology  Student

(School)                         Barstow Community College

(This is the beginning of the first page)

                                                                                                            Student     2
(An abstract is not required, but if you put one in, title it as ‘Abstract’ and center the title. An abstract should be 120 words or less. An abstract is not used in this paper. This is the beginning of the paper.)
(This is the title of the paper and it should be centered) 
                                                     John Doe, An Army Counselor 

        Military life is stressful, and life at National Training Center (NTC)  at Fort Irwin, California, is no different than anywhere else.  I interviewed Mr. John Doe a counselor at the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Program (ADAPCP), and he shared his experience in alcohol and substance abuse counseling.  There is a great need for the ADAPCP program because stress in the military is a great burden. Often soldiers use drugs and alcohol to mask their problems.  
        The ADAPCP clinic deals with many more problems besides alcohol and substance abuse.  Substance abuse affects all aspects of a person’ s life, and the ADAPCP clinic deals with those issues in addition to the drug and alcohol counseling.  Doe says, “Drug and alcohol is everything, for example, if mental health has someone who has mental health issues but is abusing substances, they come here” (personal communication, July 15, 2002).  According to Nugent, it is very important for the spouse and family members to also receive counseling.  He states, “In the typical family of an alcoholic or problem drinker, the spouse and children have been caught up in a family dynamic of intrigue in which the alcohol problem has been denied and rarely discussed so that feelings of shame permeate the family.  Family boundaries are unclear, family members are enmeshed, and authentic communication is infrequent” (2000).  
        ADAPCP encourages spouses to participate in the counseling process, and Army Community Services (ACS) offers free child care; however, Mr. Doe feels that because many spouses have their own drug and alcohol problems that they chose to deny those problems and not attend counseling.  This is unfortunate because if the spouse has a problem, the soldier is likely to relapse into previous habits of abuse.  
        According to Doe, most of the clinics clients are coerced into receive counseling.  They are identified through military police blotters, driving under the influence, drunken disorderly conduct on the installation, and positive urinalyses.  The soldiers get two chances to deal with their problem.  First, they are enrolled into a drug and alcohol abuse prevention class, and if they are caught a second time, they are either referred to a residential treatment center or ADAPCP offers a more intensive therapy.  Often times, the soldier only gets one chance and it is at the Commanding Officer’s discretion whether the soldier is put out of the military or not.
        Interviewing and assessment are an integral part of the counseling process.  The ADAPCP clinic uses a computer- assisted screening inventory.  This complete biopsychosocial inventory looks at all aspects of the client’ s health and history.  This inventory is taken each time the client comes in to update any new issues a client may be experiencing.  After the counselor looks over the questionnaire, he or she fills out the diagnostic evaluation using the DSM-IV-TR (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders).  
        ADAPCP is a part of the Weed Army Community Hospital mental health division, and they gather for weekly meetings to discuss client’s problems, work through their own processes and countertransference, and take care of administrative business.  Since September 11^th , the ADAPCP program has had to deal with a shortage of funds.  Compounding the shortage of funds, the clinic is experiencing a staff shortage.  The counselor shortage is has other contributing factors, such as, finding people qualified to do the job.  The hospital’s accreditation requires that counselors have a master’ s degree in counseling, social work, or clinical psychology with a certificate in drug and alcohol abuse counseling.  Mr. Doe and one other counselor see all the clients for this Fort Irwin clinic.  
        Averaging twenty new cases per month, Mr. Doe sees each client at least weekly in a group session and at least once a month for individual counseling.  The program counsels abuse cases for at least six months and dependency cases for up to a year.  The program also offers educational classes for those who do not show a pattern of abuse, but have been in an incident. 
        Group counseling is the predominant type of counseling in this program.  The counselors offer group therapy three times of week.  “Group therapy is especially effective with those recovering from substance abuse because groups provide social support, empowerment, encouragement to counteract ongoing social pressures to take drugs, and resistance to falling back into addictive behaviors” (Nugent, 2000).  The groups consist of up to fifteen people and go for as long as needed, up to two-and-one-half hours.  When dealing with dependency cases, the groups are approximately eight to ten people because of their intensive treatment plans.
        The therapies most often used in the ADAPCP program are reality, rational-emotive, and cognitive-behavioral.  These therapies, according to Doe, best address substance abuse issues.  Drug use affects the brain, and after the substance is gone, the brain continues to think, feel, and behave differently.  Teaching the client to deal with his or her issues without the drug or alcohol use can be a long process.  Mr. Doe says, “Some are debating that someone who uses drugs or alcohol for a couple of years needs a couple of years of sobriety for them to heal” (personal communication, July 15, 2002).
        Mr. Doe has been a drug and alcohol counselor in the military setting for over twenty years.  In that time he has witness many improvements.  The counseling facilities are no longer “shacks” and have up-to-date technology, like the computer-assisted inventories mentioned above.  He takes a great deal of pride in his breakthroughs and success stories.  He came from six generations of alcoholism and violence, and expresses great joy in breaking the pattern of abuse.  His goal is facilitating a positive change for his clients to break the patterns of abuse in their lives.  

(This is the last page and is not included in the page limit, but should have a running head and page number.)                                                                                        Student    8