MENACE OF DRUG ABUSE IN NIGERIAN SCHOOLS: NEED FOR TRAUMA-INFORMED COUNSELLING

Abstract

Trauma-informed counselling has been developed to meet the needs of individuals seeking services for drug abuse disorders. This approach involves acknowledging an individual's inter-related experiences of trauma, and drug abuse problems in service delivery, especially as it may apply to learners in Nigerian schools. Although trauma-informed counselling has been repeatedly identified
as critical to service provision in this area, there is little understanding of how this practice is delivered and experienced from the perspectives of the counsellors, school teachers, administrators and caregivers. This paper aims to explore the Need for Trauma-based counselling to curb the menace of drug abuse in Nigerian Schools. Based on this, some key concepts were considered, such
as conceptual clarification involving drug abuse, trauma, counselling, and trauma-informed counselling. There are other vital elements considered in this study, such as: forms of drug abuse, causes of drug abuse, consequences of drug abuse, efforts so far made in curtailing drug abuse in Nigerian schools, and the need for trauma-informed counselling and strategies of applied traumainformed counselling. Suggestions for improvement include an urgent need for professional counsellors to embrace a trauma-informed counselling approach to create awareness and reduce the traumatic crisis of the menace of drug abuse in Nigerian schools.