Adolescent substance abusers only come from single-parent homes; young substance abusers tend to be boys; marijuana isn’t really harmful.These are some of the myths and misconceptions that Julita Peniston deals with on a daily basis as a counsellor at Bermuda Youth Counselling Services.Mrs Peniston, a social worker, was the 2008 winner of the Duperreault Fellowship, which provides financial assistance to Bermudians studying overseas in courses about substance abuse prevention and treatment services. She recently graduated with a master’s degree in social work from Fordham University’s Graduate School of Social Services, New York.She is now working for Bermuda Youth Counselling Services which provides free services for people between the ages of 13 and 22.“Substance abuse affects all walks of life,” she said. “I see boys and girls from public and private schools. It is a cross-section of the community that we service.”She said the bulk of her clients are dealing with issues relating to marijuana and alcohol use.“It could also be generational as well where you have parents or grandparents who were using and that is now transcending to the young person, and the parents are like ‘okay, how do I fix my child?’ But it is not a matter of fixing, it is about going back and finding out what else is underlying within that family unit.”Mrs Peniston said when it was obvious that a family issue was at the root of the problem, the family was treated by a team of professionals.She started out with an interest in child and family services, until the day she accompanied another social worker to King Edward VII Memorial Hospital to visit a mother who had just given birth. The mother was a substance user.“I felt that there was more to her story as to why she was using,” said Mrs Peniston. “That started me researching. I really became interested in that area of study. I think female substance use is underreported but there is definitely a population there. For the females there is often a story, a history of trauma or depression that causes them to use substances as an end result.”As part of her master’s degree programme, Mrs Peniston had two internships in New York. Her first internship was in counselling services in the eastern district of New York in Brooklyn, working with adults.“That was an eye-opener, coming from Bermuda and going to Brooklyn,” she said.“I was able to get some experience with the adult population. Many of my clients had been incarcerated or were recently released from prison and living in halfway houses. I had to realise that they were also human. I had to use a humanistic approach with them. I was able to enhance my therapeutic alliance with them to help them get through what they were going through.”She admitted that the job was initially scary, and she will never forget her first group session.“We went around and introduced ourselves, and one individual said, ‘I just came out of prison after serving X amount of years, because I killed someone’. It was an evening group and I had to get home from Brooklyn to Manhattan. I was like okay... but I was able to realise this person had a story. We forged a great therapeutic relationship and I was able to help that person as far as their substance abuse was concerned.”While abroad she also worked for Phoenix House of New York, which is a national substance abuse organisation in the United States. She still keeps in contact with them in regards to best practice and things that are affecting the substance abuse population. In New York, she became a licensed master social worker and a certified family therapist.Now working in Bermuda again, she finds one of the differences is that it takes a longer amount of time to build the necessary trust between client and therapist.“Bermudians really have to get to know you,” she said. “That early stage of engagement is important with regards to the success of treatment. Bermudians might be friendly and open to the tourists, but in this arena because you are opening up something with such a stigma, it is different.”Most of her client referrals come from concerned parents. Bermuda Youth Counselling Services cannot treat a young person without the parent’s consent.“People have a misconception that we are advice-driven,” she said. “We are not. We work with a person to help them identify their own challenges. Sometimes there is resistance. That comes with ambivalence. So we roll with that and that resistance. The ultimate goal is for them to reach self-actualisation [their maximum potential]. I had a person not too long ago who took a year to get to that point. It is not an overnight process.”Some people might say, it is natural and harmless for young people to experiment with drugs like marijuana. Mrs Peniston said they have to keep in mind that marijuana use is illegal, and also has mental and physical health risks.“They have to understand what the consequences are when it comes to marijuana use,” she said. “It is not just the legal aspect, you are also looking at the medical and mental health aspects of substance use. We do provide information on that as well so clients can understand what it does to their physical being.”Mrs Peniston said the rewards of her job are seeing a young person turn their life around, and get to a point where they are stable and not using drugs to help them get through day-to-day living. “That is a reward,” she said. “At the end of the day I can say I have done all I can to help that person.”But she said it is important for her to separate herself from her work, and not take work issues home. To help her relax, she and her family have taken up fishing.“You have to find whatever works for you as far as separating and having that downtime,” she said. “It is about self-care for the caregiver. I am learning to fish off the rocks. My husband Shannon is teaching me. We pack up the fishing tackle box and off we go. It is great. You don’t have to talk. You slow the pace right down. You actually get to really look at Bermuda for its beauty. We try to find spots all over the Island. We went to Ferry Reach. We didn’t realise how beautiful and quiet it is there. My seven-year-old daughter loves it.”She thanked the Duperreault Fellowship for their assistance, and also Brian and Nancy Duperreault for providing the fellowship. There have been six recipients of the Duperreault Fellowship to date, including Mrs Peniston Christine Rhodes (2006), Isis Wellman (2007), Khalid Shakir and Junita Woolridge (2009) and Zina Woolridge in 2010. The 2011 recipient has not yet been announced.For more information contact Bermuda Youth Counselling Services on 296-7548 or e-mail Mrs Peniston at jppeniston[AT]gov.bm .Useful websites: www.gov.bm, www.theantidrug.com/.