Traditional Probation & Intensive Supervision ... - Ottawa County

Attachment VParticipant Interview Results• Showed me different ways to handle my problems• It gave me a better perspective on life – on where I was going• I enjoyed the classes at Reality; the atmosphere, people, and the whole experience was enjoyable• Talking with other participants was helpful; the counselor was not that helpful. I found a book called “DivorceBusters” that was more helpful than the counseling; I got the book from a marriage counselor. The counselingwas outdated and the counselor was not up to date on the latest information on how to counsel people; he wasalways dragging people back into the past and wouldn’t let them focus on the future and how to do thingsdifferently. The book [Divorce Busters] that I had was helpful for other people in my class (domestic violenceclass)• It taught me a lesson; I learned that that this could be another punishment because it wasn’t my favorite thing todo• I learned life and parenting skills; I always wanted more counseling because it was helpful for me to talk withsomeone about my problems. I had bad friends and I needed to stay away from them.• It taught me a lot about myself and helped me identify my own issues• I had a basic introduction to the 12 steps and that helped when I attended AA meetings• The teacher was open and helpful. I liked being able to openly discuss triggers.• The head of the counseling agency was down-to-earth and treated us like equals.• The victim impact panel was very worthwhile and it touched home with me• AA enabled me to see I had issues that needed dealing with. Listening to other people’s stories in AA wasextremely helpful• Being able to manage my problem. I had a caring support group.• It helped with previous issues I had• It helped me speak to my own kids about drinking and driving• It changed my attitude. It taught me that alcohol is a poison and it will kill you.• In a way the counseling opened my eyes about other stuff in my life• It made me feel better and cope with the situation• It opened my eyes to the fact that I had a problem• The Anger Management classes helped me calm down• AA opened my eyes and I was able to see where I was heading if I didn’t straighten up• I was in Pine Rest outpatient for 6 months and it was helpful to be around others who have the same issues asmyself• It got me sober and I’ve been sober now for 4 years• It got me out of troubleDid Not Complete Traditional Probation• Explained the laws to me• Helped me kick the drug habit• It was educational because it was my first experience with addiction counseling• It made me realize what I was doing, the blackouts I was having from drinking. My counselor from CFC toldme that he wouldn’t label me as an alcoholic and every other counselor I had dealt with would just say “you’rean alcoholic.” It was just good not to have that label over my head.Completed ISP Probation• They listen• It taught me how to deal with different situations• AA was a good experience for me, it was educational• Being around others with the same issues was helpful; I knew I wasn’t alone• AA was helpful because it allowed me to hear stories from other people who were in the same situation as me.Child and Family Services was not helpful because the counselor I had would always talk about where she waspartying on the weekend; she no longer works there.