5 Questions for Dana Foster, Counselor

5 Questions is our ongoing feature where we introduce you to the people who make Brandywine Counseling run, spotlighting a different staff member every two weeks.

Name: Dana Foster
Job: Counselor, Newark Center
Time with BCI: 5 years

1. What is your job at BCI and what do you enjoy about it?
I basically educate clients on the disease concept of addiction, and then I help them identify their goals, what they want to work on. I help them identify their triggers for relapse, help them develop a relapse prevention plan, and address any issues that might be hindering them from progressing in their recovery.

Every day you learn something new about a person. You learn another person’s perspective about life and their experiences. I enjoy just seeing anyone who really feels happy with themselves - that, to me, just puts a smile on my face and makes me feel like I was a part of something.

2. What led you to a career in addiction treatment and to your present job?
I always knew that I wanted to be counselor. I come from a family of addiction, and I’ve seen how recovery changes a person. I’ve seen people in addiction, and then I’ve seen them progress in their recovery. I know that it changes them completely, and I wanted to be a part of that transformation.

I started at BCI as an intern through DelTech on the Bridge-Perinatal unit. Then I was hired on as the VIP counselor - they’re known as the Medical Maintenance 1 clients now - but I had all the clients with four and five bottles [of take-home medication, which they earned after 1-2 years clean.] That’s where I started, at Riverfront. Then when Riverfront closed, I went to Lancaster Avenue, and then I came here to Newark. Now I’m a Core counselor, plus I still have some of my old Methadone Maintenance 1 clients.

3. What would people be surprised to know about your work?
That the clients aren’t just methadone addicts. They didn’t switch their addiction from heroin to methadone. That’s the stereotype that I hear a lot, and that the clients experience on a regular basis. They’re constantly being judged about, “Oh, you’re not clean, you’re on methadone.” But that’s really not true. For the clients that are clean, they’ve really worked on some things. There’s plenty of clients that are on methadone but switch [from heroin] to alcohol, or switch to cocaine. So the ones that are actually abstinent of all drugs or alcohol really have worked hard to get where they are. And it does take work, it’s not just about switching the physical addiction.

4. Tell us about your favorite client success story.
There was a client that had been here for probably 15 years. She had the type of reputation that no one wanted to deal with her, she was a very difficult client. When she was transferred to me, she had already been clean for about a year and had come a long way. She was on a low dose of of methadone, but was very dependent on the support she received from BCI. It was no longer a physical withdrawal, but she was scared to death to detox.

I worked with her for about three years on a lot of personal issues, and she finally detoxed off of methadone, and she’s doing beautifully. She still calls once in awhile and says how well she’s doing. She has a mortgage on a house, she got married, she found an inner peace and developed positive coping skills. She’s just doing really well. It’s just a total turnaround from what she was.

5. What advice do you have for someone who would like to do the job you do?
Education is important, knowledge about addiction is important, but really, the most important thing is the ability to have empathy for others. Clients don’t care where you went to school. They don’t care how far you got, they really don’t. What they care about is that you’re understanding, you’re not judging them, and that you’re able to connect with them.