Wright's Constructs of Psychosocial Adjustment to Physical Disability as a Framework for Understanding Adaptation to Chemical Dependency

Rehabilitation counselors will increasingly encounter clients who are chemically dependent to either alcohol, cocaine, or some other debilitating drug. Therefore, it is imperative for rehabilitation counselors to delineate and understand the factors Involved in psychosocial adaptation to chemical dependency. The purpose of this article is to explain how Beatrice Wright's suppositions on psychosocial adjustment to physical disability can be used to illuminate the issues involved in adaptation to drugs. Relationships between adjustment to physical disability and adaptation to drugs will be identified and discussed. Also, implications for rehabilitation counseling practice with persons who are chemically dependent will be examined.