ADDITIONAL ORDER: (3 of 3, total pages for order 2 & 3=10pages) 1) Pls see attached. Make sure it’s error free, deep enough, feel free to make any changes (it’s difficult to be objective about my own writing) 2) Pls add definition of balanced life (spiritual, financial, social, mental/physical health, emotional/family relationship). 3) Pls add reasons why would anybody want to have a balanced life (advantages/disadvantages) Cont’ in substance abuse. Ninety percent of the clients are court ordered to attend the program. Many of them claimed that it was not the first time that they have court ordered and they claimed that they are there just their to do their time and do not have an intention of getting better. They may try to abstain from drugs and alcohol during their treatment to comply with the court’s requirement; however, as soon as they are done with the program, most of them are back to their old life style and back to the clinic. Anybody who has worked with substance abuse clients knows that they are very challenging population to work with, especially those who are court ordered. Counseling these clients can be emotionally and physically exhausting. During my traineeship, I realized that every part of the clients’ lives are quite dysfunctional; their mental, emotional, biological and social well-being has been affected. My first reaction was that their cases were hopeless and beyond repair. It grieved me to think this. One of them could be my father, my brother, my husband, or my son; therefore, I decided to refuse to give up. I tried to understand the best way to heal them, to put them right back on track. How could they maximize their treatment? I slowly realized that there was indeed a solution. It involved incorporating the mind, body, and spirit–treating a client as a whole instead of just treating the disease of addiction. I slowly introduced holistic therapies to my recovery group clients and to some of my individual clients. I stressed the importance of incorporating the mind, body, and spirit and how it could be useful in their daily lives. Guiding Purpose Through the process described above, I became fascinated with the body, mind, and spirit connection. Treating a person as a whole not just the symptoms alone is essential to a full recovery from stress and alcohol and drug recovery for my clients; otherwise, the symptoms may keep coming back or another problem will show up. The problem does not go away until it was acknowledged and treated. Body, mind, and spirit need to be integrated into every area of one’s life on order to have a balanced life. Without balance, one area of one’s life may be suffering. A person who spends more time at work may be excellent at his or her job, but the personal life may be suffering. Like an ecosystem, if one part of it is interrupted, the whole is affected. When people begin complaining about how they spend their the time or how they are living their lives, that is a sign that something needs to be changed. One example is a person who works, rushes everyday to take the children to their after-school activities, takes care of ill parents and the household at the same time, and forgets to take care of the self. This person is likely to end up with depression and anxiety. If a person does not change, the universe will effect change for that person, and sometimes, the result can be tragic. Rationale It had become apparent to me that integrating the body, mind, and spirit was very important and essential to the recovery of clients at my internship site. It seemed like all my clients needed this. Many counseling programs believe that if one heals the mind, the body and spirit will follow. I like to treat the individual as a whole and not just treat the mind or the body.