The Veteran Supported Education Service Treatment Manual: VetSEd

Maintain close contact with your clinical supervisor to determine possible clinical
referrals as you work with Veterans in the VetSEd program who may have COD.
Example: Harm Reduction Conversation
VetSEd provider: So Steven, you said you missed your morning classes a few
times in the past few weeks. Do you have any sense as to what got in the way?
Steven: Well, I had a hard time getting out of bed and slept through my alarm,
even though I set two of them!
VetSEd provider : Sounds like you were tired. Were you able to fall asleep when
you wanted to the night before?
Steven: Not exactly. I tried to go to sleep at 10pm, but I kept thinking about some
pretty rough things that happened to me on my last tour of duty, so I went out with
my buddies to the Tavern instead and we had a few drinks. I didn‘t get home until
3am.
VetSEd provider: So you stayed out later than you expected. You mentioned
having a few drinks. For you, how many are a few?
Steven: I only had 5 beers and 2 shots. I think I would have gotten up if it weren‘t
for that last shot.
VetSEd provider: It seems like that last drink put you over the edge. I‘m
wondering, if you could do it all over again what might you have done differently?
Steven: I would have left an hour earlier and not taken that last shot for sure!
VetSEd : Ok, so leaving earlier and not taking the last shot would be important for
you. Do you have any ideas about how you could make that happen the next time
around? Can you tell me a bit more about some of the things you were thinking
about that prevented you from falling asleep?
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