Career advice: Substance-abuse counselor

Jose Bonilla, 37, of Westbury, is a clinical social worker in the division of community psychiatry and substance abuse services at Glen Cove Hospital.

Why did you go into this field?

I genuinely believed I could make a positive influence in changing people. I had a keen interest in understanding the psychology of addiction. I was fascinated in understanding how someone's life could be so devastated by a drug and yet still that person continued to deny its devastating effects.

What would you say to someone considering this career?

Substance abuse is a chronic mental illness and it really should be viewed as such. Work as a substance abuse counselor can often become frustrating. It can be frustrating when we want recovery for the patient at our speed instead of the patient's. It's pivotal for you to understand that people won't get better by what we say to them but their own process of recovery, which often includes numerous relapses of their old behavior.

Two of our major roles is to provide a sense of consistency and structure, which are traits that are often underdeveloped in the substance abuser. Two of our other functions are to encourage emotional support and the overall recovery lifestyle. We need to be mindful that true recovery can be achieved by the patient themselves at their own process and if they really want it. . . . We have to be cognizant of our own limitations and rescue fantasies.