Professional Elitism
One of the professional organizations to which I belong is the National Association for Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Counselors. I belong to several other professional organizations although fewer than I formerly did. Part of the reason for this is that I am semi-retired and simply cannot afford to pay annual membership dues and/or no longer work for clients associated with that organization. One such organization is the National Employee Assistance Organization.
All of the organizations to which I belong hold annual national or state conferences. Some are associated with international organizations, which host professional conferences. Such conferences offer the:
· Opportunity to take courses, which help one to keep one up to date about changes in knowledge and resources, related to one’s profession. These courses also allow one to get the continuing education credits one needs to maintain one’s license or certifications.
· Opportunity to meet with and discuss professional issues with colleagues.
· Opportunity to network with colleagues to whom one might make or receive referrals.
· Opportunity for some to recruit new staff or find a job.
The professional conferences last at least two days and may be as long as a week. Very often they are located in a city, which will be close to an airport, which is relatively easy to access from many other cities. Frequently it is also in a location which offers conference attendees the opportunity to also have an individual or family vacation.
There was a time in the 1980s when several professional organizations to which I belong made a commitment to:
· Choosing a relatively inexpensive venue such as a college which had unused dorm rooms, i.e. e. during summer months or spring break.
· Using keynote speakers and presenters from the ranks of those who were attending the conference.
· Providing inexpensive meals in the dining hall of the college/university
· Providing free childcare.
· Insuring that facilities were accessible to the differently abled including hearing and sight impaired. All conference presentations included, for example, a professional sign language interpreter.
· Coordinating room sharing to further reduce costs.
· Making a significant effort to recruit staff that would exchange their labor for free tuition and/or accommodations.
The result was that professional conferences tended to satisfy all the traditional needs of attendees, be representative of a broad group of professionals, and be affordable. This meant that low budget organizations and individuals in private practice or those committed to serving people regardless of income or insurance status could attend such conferences.
Another benefit to conferences, which were designed to be affordable and accessible, was that the needs of a board spectrum of clients and potential clients were represented in the education and the research interests of the professional organizations. Often service recipients were included in the conference program.
It has been a long time since I attended a national or international conference which seemed to be planned and executed with the same objectives.
For example, I just got an email notice from the National Association for Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Counselors for their annual conference, which will be held for three days in Washington, DC in October of this year, 2015.
The costs associated with the conference are:
· Tuition - $425.00 (+50.00 but not $100.00 for lobby day),which is relatively inexpensive for these types of conferences.
· Hotel – discounted rate at very nice hotel - $149.00 (plus, I assume, taxes and fees) per night - $447.00 plus
· Travel – Approximately $500.00 – airfare, subway or taxi, parking at airport.
· Food - $50.00 day (if really careful and eat in hotel room with food bought at store, $50.00 total)
· Misc. expense - child care if needed – At this stage of life I do not need this (but some attendees would need).
· Missed income because of not working.
· Annual membership fee – NAADAC - $135.00
It quickly becomes obvious that the total cost will beyond the budget of a person such as myself now semi-retired. Even when working full time this was a lot of money, especially since I had a commitment to work for/with individuals regardless of their ability to pay or for what they could afford to pay. I was fine and lived well, according to my standards. I usually made too much to feel okay about asking for financial assistance from conference planners and too little to afford most conferences.
To NAADAC’s credit they do ask on the registration form about special needs or accommodations. I also want to stress that in terms of conference fees, this one is “relatively inexpensive.”
At the same time, the expense for this and similar conferences insures that the profession is planned, run by, and represented by a very elite sub-group of the members of a particular profession. Merriam-Webster defines elite as:
a. The choice part: cream
b. The best of a class
c. The socially superior part of society.
d. A group of persons who by virtue of position or education exercise much power or influence
e. A member of such an elite
f. A typewriter type providing 12 characters to the linear inch (I had forgotten about this use of the word.)
In essence when an elite group of people attend professional conferences, they tend to be the ones who get elected to office or get hired by the organization, represent the profession to those making laws or passing other legislation affecting the profession, and decide what issues are most important for the profession to address. Thus, in the area of addiction, the groups of people whose needs are most likely to be addressed, understood, and effectively treated are those of the middle and upper class. The fact that there may be speakers who are addressing the needs of representatives of other sub-groups does not insure that research and resources will be primarily directed to these sub-groups.
As is true of all systems, the system tends to be self-perpetuating. It is no secret that if one has money or very good insurance one can get more effective treatment for one’s addictive disorders at facilities such as the Betty Ford Treatment Center. Although advertised as “Treatment you can afford” and is clear that it takes Medicare, Medicaid, and other insurance, all the people who I know who have gone to treatment there are those who are either poor enough to qualify for Medicaid assistance or those with enough money and/or decent insurance to cover the costs. Since it is a residential care center, one also has to be able to cover costs of being off work for that period. There are some employers who will provide paid time off, but I do not personally know of many. I do know a number of employers who will give unpaid time off.
I use the Betty Ford Center because it also has a staff of highly trained and credentialed employees. This is not true of many treatment facilities. For example, one for which I temporarily worked had one part-time doctor, an off-site clinical supervisor, and myself who were credentialed staff. The rest of the staff were post-recovering non-professional staff. This fact did not significantly lower the cost of treatment.
It needs to be acknowledged that continuing education for professionals is affordable if one does not want or need to attend conferences. In fact, for members of NAADAC a number of free courses are available via Webinar or other formats. This is very laudable and helpful. At the same time the leadership that, in term, affects the research, funding, and direction of treatment will be most influenced by the elite who are able to participate in professional conferences and/or who are employees of organizations such as NAADAC.
The bottom line is that we tend to, often unwittingly, create a system of elite professionals in most fields. If we want to change that system we are going to have to have a commitment to explore the practical issues, which determine that system; issues which were beginning to be addressed by some in the eighties and which have fallen by the wayside. Although laudable, offering scholarships to a few individuals, such as students, does not change the basic dynamics of the organization or direction of the profession.
There are a few organizations such as the West Virginia Certification Board for Addiction and Prevention Professionals who make an effort to make conferences more affordable and available. Sadly they are the exception. Even they need to re-examine such needs as childcare.
Written August 27, 2015
One of the professional organizations to which I belong is the National Association for Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Counselors. I belong to several other professional organizations although fewer than I formerly did. Part of the reason for this is that I am semi-retired and simply cannot afford to pay annual membership dues and/or no longer work for clients associated with that organization. One such organization is the National Employee Assistance Organization.
All of the organizations to which I belong hold annual national or state conferences. Some are associated with international organizations, which host professional conferences. Such conferences offer the:
· Opportunity to take courses, which help one to keep one up to date about changes in knowledge and resources, related to one’s profession. These courses also allow one to get the continuing education credits one needs to maintain one’s license or certifications.
· Opportunity to meet with and discuss professional issues with colleagues.
· Opportunity to network with colleagues to whom one might make or receive referrals.
· Opportunity for some to recruit new staff or find a job.
The professional conferences last at least two days and may be as long as a week. Very often they are located in a city, which will be close to an airport, which is relatively easy to access from many other cities. Frequently it is also in a location which offers conference attendees the opportunity to also have an individual or family vacation.
There was a time in the 1980s when several professional organizations to which I belong made a commitment to:
· Choosing a relatively inexpensive venue such as a college which had unused dorm rooms, i.e. e. during summer months or spring break.
· Using keynote speakers and presenters from the ranks of those who were attending the conference.
· Providing inexpensive meals in the dining hall of the college/university
· Providing free childcare.
· Insuring that facilities were accessible to the differently abled including hearing and sight impaired. All conference presentations included, for example, a professional sign language interpreter.
· Coordinating room sharing to further reduce costs.
· Making a significant effort to recruit staff that would exchange their labor for free tuition and/or accommodations.
The result was that professional conferences tended to satisfy all the traditional needs of attendees, be representative of a broad group of professionals, and be affordable. This meant that low budget organizations and individuals in private practice or those committed to serving people regardless of income or insurance status could attend such conferences.
Another benefit to conferences, which were designed to be affordable and accessible, was that the needs of a board spectrum of clients and potential clients were represented in the education and the research interests of the professional organizations. Often service recipients were included in the conference program.
It has been a long time since I attended a national or international conference which seemed to be planned and executed with the same objectives.
For example, I just got an email notice from the National Association for Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Counselors for their annual conference, which will be held for three days in Washington, DC in October of this year, 2015.
The costs associated with the conference are:
· Tuition - $425.00 (+50.00 but not $100.00 for lobby day),which is relatively inexpensive for these types of conferences.
· Hotel – discounted rate at very nice hotel - $149.00 (plus, I assume, taxes and fees) per night - $447.00 plus
· Travel – Approximately $500.00 – airfare, subway or taxi, parking at airport.
· Food - $50.00 day (if really careful and eat in hotel room with food bought at store, $50.00 total)
· Misc. expense - child care if needed – At this stage of life I do not need this (but some attendees would need).
· Missed income because of not working.
· Annual membership fee – NAADAC - $135.00
It quickly becomes obvious that the total cost will beyond the budget of a person such as myself now semi-retired. Even when working full time this was a lot of money, especially since I had a commitment to work for/with individuals regardless of their ability to pay or for what they could afford to pay. I was fine and lived well, according to my standards. I usually made too much to feel okay about asking for financial assistance from conference planners and too little to afford most conferences.
To NAADAC’s credit they do ask on the registration form about special needs or accommodations. I also want to stress that in terms of conference fees, this one is “relatively inexpensive.”
At the same time, the expense for this and similar conferences insures that the profession is planned, run by, and represented by a very elite sub-group of the members of a particular profession. Merriam-Webster defines elite as:
a. The choice part: cream
b. The best of a class
c. The socially superior part of society.
d. A group of persons who by virtue of position or education exercise much power or influence
e. A member of such an elite
f. A typewriter type providing 12 characters to the linear inch (I had forgotten about this use of the word.)
In essence when an elite group of people attend professional conferences, they tend to be the ones who get elected to office or get hired by the organization, represent the profession to those making laws or passing other legislation affecting the profession, and decide what issues are most important for the profession to address. Thus, in the area of addiction, the groups of people whose needs are most likely to be addressed, understood, and effectively treated are those of the middle and upper class. The fact that there may be speakers who are addressing the needs of representatives of other sub-groups does not insure that research and resources will be primarily directed to these sub-groups.
As is true of all systems, the system tends to be self-perpetuating. It is no secret that if one has money or very good insurance one can get more effective treatment for one’s addictive disorders at facilities such as the Betty Ford Treatment Center. Although advertised as “Treatment you can afford” and is clear that it takes Medicare, Medicaid, and other insurance, all the people who I know who have gone to treatment there are those who are either poor enough to qualify for Medicaid assistance or those with enough money and/or decent insurance to cover the costs. Since it is a residential care center, one also has to be able to cover costs of being off work for that period. There are some employers who will provide paid time off, but I do not personally know of many. I do know a number of employers who will give unpaid time off.
I use the Betty Ford Center because it also has a staff of highly trained and credentialed employees. This is not true of many treatment facilities. For example, one for which I temporarily worked had one part-time doctor, an off-site clinical supervisor, and myself who were credentialed staff. The rest of the staff were post-recovering non-professional staff. This fact did not significantly lower the cost of treatment.
It needs to be acknowledged that continuing education for professionals is affordable if one does not want or need to attend conferences. In fact, for members of NAADAC a number of free courses are available via Webinar or other formats. This is very laudable and helpful. At the same time the leadership that, in term, affects the research, funding, and direction of treatment will be most influenced by the elite who are able to participate in professional conferences and/or who are employees of organizations such as NAADAC.
The bottom line is that we tend to, often unwittingly, create a system of elite professionals in most fields. If we want to change that system we are going to have to have a commitment to explore the practical issues, which determine that system; issues which were beginning to be addressed by some in the eighties and which have fallen by the wayside. Although laudable, offering scholarships to a few individuals, such as students, does not change the basic dynamics of the organization or direction of the profession.
There are a few organizations such as the West Virginia Certification Board for Addiction and Prevention Professionals who make an effort to make conferences more affordable and available. Sadly they are the exception. Even they need to re-examine such needs as childcare.
Written August 27, 2015
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