Rachel Meyer explores how empowerment theory can be applied to help clients with substance use disorders (SUD). Empowerment theory focuses on clients' strengths rather than weaknesses. It aims to enhance clients' self-efficacy, critical consciousness, and ability to take effective action to overcome SUD. Key aspects of empowerment-based interventions include identifying clients' coping strategies, teaching new skills, and supporting the development of self-confidence and motivation for change. While empowerment theory emphasizes personal empowerment, critics argue it may just rehabilitate clients to fit social norms without addressing broader social and political factors.

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Empowerment Theory and Substance Use Disorders (SUD)
Rachel Meyer
Human Behavior and the Social Environment: SW 530
Undergraduate School of Social Welfare

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Introduction
In the field of Social Welfare, one will come across substance use and abuse in nearly all
areas of practice environments. Therefore, my interest currently lies within substance use
disorders, particularly in relation to adolescents and adults. A substance use disorder is defined
as a disorder in which the abuse of one or more substances leads to a clinically significant
impairment or distress. Although the term substance can refer to any physical matter, "substance
abuse" has come to refer to the overindulgence in and dependence of a drug or other chemical
leading to effects that are detrimental to the individual's physical and mental health, or the
welfare of others (NAMI, 2010). I chose to connect the theory of empowerment with my
particular practice area of interest. Moreover, strength-based intervention (based on
empowerment theory) to work with adolescents and adults with substance use disorders.
Overview of the Theory in Relation to the Practice Interest
The principles of empowerment theory, when using a strength-based perspective, can be applied
to help clients gain self-efficacy and a critical consciousness in order to take effective action in
overcoming their substance use disorders.
Strength-based Perspective
The theory of empowerment is based off of the strength-based perspective, which is an
approach to the process of practice, rather than it’s own theory. The primary goal of this practice
concept is minimizing the weaknesses and maximizing the strengths of the client, whether the
client is an individual, group, or community. One cannot empower a client by criticizing their
shortcomings or failures. Therefore, strength-oriented social workers refuse to identify clients
according to their deficits or pathologies. Saleebey (1992), a central figure in the Kansas group,
explains this approach in the following passage:

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The strengths perspectives obligates the workers to understand that, however
downtrodden or sick, individuals have survived (and in some cases even thrived).
They have taken steps, summoned up resources, and coped. We need to know
what they have done, how they have done it, what they have learned from doing it,
and what resources (inner or outer) were available in their struggle to surmount
their troubles. People are always working on their situations, even if just deciding
to be resigned to them; as helpers we must tap into the work, elucidate it, find and
build on its possibilities (p. 171-172).
Professionals focused on empowering their clients and who are trained to view their
clients as human beings using their strengths and resources to cope with adversity as best they
can have a much better chance of helping clients with substance use disorders find the means to
improve their own situation (Cohen, 1999, p.461). The client has a better chance of developing
self-confidence if the social worker amplifies their strengths. It is essential for clients to see
themselves in a positive light, as it aids in the development of self-efficacy.
Self-efficacy
Self-efficacy is the belief that one has the ability to implement the behaviors needed to
produce a desired effect. Numerous studies have shown a strong relationship between self-
efficacy beliefs (often referred to as abstinence self-efficacy) and drinking/drug-use outcomes,
following a variety of treatments. Theoretically, all treatments for substance use should be
expected to enhance self-efficacy, either directly or indirectly. In the substance abuse field, it has
been postulated, and generally accepted, that if clients are taught coping skills (e.g., problem-
solving, social skills, communication skills) and they subsequently experience success as a result
of implementing those skills in lieu of using substances, this mastery experience is likely to
enhance their efficacy beliefs (Kadden & Litt, 2011, p.1121-1123). Self-efficacy emphasizes the
importance of arranging experiences designed to increase the person’s sense of efficacy for

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specific behaviors in certain problematic and challenging situations. Self-efficacy is an important
part of the strength-based intervention process, since during the intervention the social worker
does not simply resolve specific problems, but instead provides the client with the skills and the
sense of efficacy for solving problems themselves.
Critical Consciousness
The principles of empowerment theory can be applied to help clients gain a critical
consciousness. According to J. Lee’s model of components of empowerment (2001), critical
consciousness is the development of knowledge and a capacity for critical comprehension of the
social and political realities of one’s environment (Robbinson, Chatterjee, & Canda, 2012, p. 95).
Therefore, in relation to working with individuals with substance use disorders, during the
process of intervention one should assist their client in the development of a critical
consciousness in order to enhance the individual’s sense of self worth and reduce the amount of
blame that the client places upon themself. A key component in helping clients to achieve a
critical consciousness is to remember that the professional is not the expert. The individuals,
families, and communities with whom the professional works in partnership are the experts.
They own the intimate knowledge of their situations and, for the most part, own the most
important resources.
The language that one uses in order to assist clients throughout the intervention processes
is extremely imperative. The language that you use to describe your client should be the same
language used to converse with them; it is plain, direct language of people who work with other
people, not the ‘scientific’ language of those who classify other individuals. The language is not
stigmatizing (Cohen, 1999, p.461). However, the development of a critical consciousness
involves the cognitive component of identification with similar others. Thus, it may be

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beneficial, in some cases, for the client to choose to be identified by a stigmatic label such as AA
or NA in attempt to identify with similar others with substance use disorders, knowing they are
not alone, and gaining the social support of others.
When focusing on the reduction of self-blame, another cognitive component in the
development of a critical consciousness, it is important to remember to “begin where the client is
(Cohen, 1999, p.461).” Meaning focus less on the client’s problems and more on what he or she
is doing about them. Lack of motivation for change is widely regarded as a primary obstacle in
treating substance abuse and dependence. Drug problems by definition represent a failure of
ordinary self-protective or self-regulatory processes. The user experiences insufficient instigation
to change, and makes little or no behavioral course correction despite adverse consequences
(Miller, 2003, p.754). Therefore, rather than centering conversation around past issues that have
happened as a result of their substance use disorder, the social worker must instead place
emphasis on empowering the client to change their perspective in order to gain the motivation
needed to make a change.
Actions to Overcome Substance Use Disorders
An empowerment approach requires that practitioners engage in empowering roles;
empowerment involves not only the desired outcomes but also the process of helping itself. The
roles that a social worker must encompass when working with individuals with substance use
disorders would consist of the following, as identified by Solomon: The sensitizer role, which
involves helping clients gain the knowledge necessary to take control of their lives. The teacher-
trainer role, which places the practitioner as the manager of the learning process aimed at helping
clients find solutions for their situations. Lastly, is the cooperator role, in which the worker

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understands the client as the one who is self-determining in achieving self-efficacy and
empowerment (Robbinson, Chatterjee, & Canda, 2012, p.99).
Critique of the Theory
When using the empowerment theory, social workers will establish an “I and I”
relationship of mutual respect and collaboration with clients. As a social worker you will listen
carefully to what your client is saying and validate their experiences while believing and
confirming everything they have to say. However, according to Cohen (1999), working with
clients according to the principles of the strengths perspective does not mean denying the
existence of their problems or talking them out of their authentic feelings of distress. Yet when
working with clients using a strength-based intervention, the social worker must decide to
address strengths at an appropriate time (p.461). McQuaide & Ehrenreich (1997) point out that
clients typically arrive at the social worker’s doorstep with a ‘vulnerability perspective’,
obligating the worker to empathize with the client’s pain and attempt to lighten the burden
through sharing. Identification of strengths is not likely to be relevant to the client during the first
part of the intervention, and the client may see a premature focus on strengths as lack of
understanding, dogmatism, or even rejection (p.209).
In regard to empowerment theory’s system relevance, empowerment focused social work
includes collaborative activity with individuals, families, and groups to help them achieve their
goals by increasing personal and interpersonal competence and by learning how to challenge
social structural obstacles and inadequate resources. Individuals first need to realize how they are
placed within the system in order to make a change on a personal level as well as within their
families, institutions, communities, etc. Nevertheless, as Iris Marion Young (1994) explains,
“empowerment is like a democracy: everyone is for it, but rarely do people mean the same thing

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by it.” He expands on this idea by presenting two different definitions of empowerment. The
first, empowerment means the development of individual autonomy, self-control, and
confidence. The second, empowerment refers to the development of a sense of collective
influences over the social conditions of one’s life. I do not entirely agree with Young when he
says, “ I think the second meaning is better, because it includes both personal empowerment and
collective empowerment and suggests that the latter is a condition of the former (Young, 1994,
p.48).” However, he offers a quite radical justification to back up this statement.
Young explains that social service theorists who use the first meaning of empowerment
challenge the more overtly dominative forms of power that sometimes appear in drug treatment
programs. They challenge models of service provision that make the service provider an expert
and authority and which rely on rules and surveillance. They advocate instead what Thomas
Wartenberg calls a “transformative” use of power by the service provider in relation to the client
(Wartenberg, 1990). As Wartenberg describes it, in a transformative use of power, the superior
exercises power over the subordinate in such a way that the subordinate agent learns certain
skills that undercut the power differential between the client and the dominant agent. The
transformative use of power seeks to bring about its own obsolescence by means of the
empowerment of the subordinate agent (Young, 1994, p.49). In sum, Young is saying that by
using empowerment based on an individual level we are merely rehabilitating the client to fit
into the subjective norms and standards of society.
Personal Reflection
My personal values directly coincide with the empowerment theory, for it emphasis
individual strengths, resiliency, and resources. I consider the empowerment theory the greatest
and most beneficial of all the theories that we have learned, for it helps transfer the power from

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outward (society) to inward (the individual). By empowering clients, you actively promote self-
control, personal responsibility, and self-actualization. As a social work professional, I am
committed to help individuals realize their own aspirations and strengths, as well as engage in
actions, both individually and collectively, that support overall well-being and social justice.
The practice of empowerment is highly consistent with social work values and ethics, for
it builds upon the traditional commitment to work for social justice, especially on behalf of
marginalized and oppressed individuals (Robbinson, Chatterjee, & Canda, 2012, p. 105). The
core social work value of dignity and worth of the person is also addressed, for the
empowerment theory focuses on the creative capacities, strengths, and resources that individuals
and communities possess and develop in coping with oppression (Robbinson, Chatterjee, &
Canda, 2012, p. 104). According to the empowerment theory personal well-being cannot and
should not be separated from collective well-being, and therefore, recognizes the importance of
human relationships. Moreover, “individual empowerment is a necessary component of
collective empowerment (Robbinson, Chatterjee, & Canda, 2012, p. 104).”
Empowerment has often been described as a central goal and process of social work
practice. It highlights strength, and can be applied in all areas of social work. Therefore, I plan to
implement the theory of empowerment throughout my entire professional practice. As a social
worker, I will assist individuals in identifying the sources of powerlessness and help them to
redefine themselves in a more positive, self-determined manner, by using the strengths
perspective. I love this particular theory, because its main focus is on magnifying individuals
positive aspects in order to help bring about change rather than stressing their negative attributes.
"Promoting empowerment means believing that people are capable of making their own choices
and decisions. It means not only that human beings possess the strengths and potential to resolve

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their own difficult life situations, but also that they increase their strength and contribute to
society by doing so." - Charles D. Cower

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McQuaide, S., & Ehrenreich, J.H. (1997) Assessing client strengths. Families in Society, 78,
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Miller, W. (2003). Motivational interviewing in drug abuse services: A randomized trial.
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NAMI Comments on the APA’s Draft Revision of the DSM-V Substance Use Disorders. (2010).
National Alliance on Mental Illness. Arlington, VA: NAMI.
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Saleebey, D. (Ed.) (1992). The strengths perspective in social work practice. New York:
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Wartenberg, T. (1990). Forms of Power: From domination to transformation. Philadelphia:
Temple University Press.
Young, I. M. (1994). Punishment, Treatment, Empowerment: Three Approaches to Policy for
Pregnant Addicts. Feminist Studies, 20(1), 32-57. doi: 129.237.35.237