Alcoholism/Drug Abuse Counselors in Industry: Do They Need Interpersonal Skills

A basic premise in the canons of therapy is that all counselors possess interpersonal skills. To many this means counselors enter the profession with an a priori compassion to "help people" and perform services expected of them by agencies. This premise is so standard that many clinical training programs rarely require courses in public speaking, empathy, and business diplomacy skills. But clinical personnel employed in industry and conducting Employee Assistance Programs may, in fact, have interpersonal deficits that jeopardize their jobs. This paper examines a workable model for interpersonal communication between counselors and those employees diagnosed "at risk" by a referral team.