Member Spotlight

Deborah Malaga

I became a Certified Temperament Counselor through the National Christian Counselors Association (NCCA) in 2003. Throughout my years of counseling experience, I have utilized the Arno Profile System (APS) with clients during the initial stages of therapy to gain a deeper understanding of the unique way God has created and wired each individual.

The APS has been an invaluable clinical and counseling resource because it provides insight into a client’s individual temperament, including underlying needs, desires, strengths, vulnerabilities, and patterns of relating to others. Having this information early in the therapeutic relationship has allowed me to better understand the person sitting across from me and to individualize my approach according to his or her specific needs.

Prior to utilizing the APS, it could take several weeks of individualized counseling to begin identifying some of these underlying needs and behavioral patterns. In some cases, important aspects of a client’s emotional and relational functioning might not have been readily apparent through traditional conversation alone. The APS provided an additional framework through which I could ask more intentional questions, explore areas of concern, and develop therapeutic interventions that were more specifically tailored to the individual.

When I became the Clinical Director at Spring2Life Recovery, I believed it was extremely important for our clinical department to have the ability to identify the needs and desires of each client entering our program as early as possible. In substance use disorder treatment, we recognize that there is often a limited window of opportunity to establish trust, develop insight, identify barriers to recovery, and help clients begin addressing the underlying issues that have contributed to destructive patterns in their lives.

Addiction is rarely limited to substance use alone. Many of the individuals we serve enter treatment carrying years of shame, rejection, fear, unhealthy relationship patterns, distorted beliefs about themselves, and deeply rooted negative core beliefs. Understanding temperament can provide another avenue for helping clinicians recognize how clients experience relationships, respond to stress, communicate their needs, manage emotions, and perceive themselves and others.

For this reason, Spring2Life Recovery and the National Christian Counselors Association partnered together to provide clients with the opportunity to gain greater understanding of their unique temperament. The goal is not simply for clients to receive an assessment or a description of their personality. Rather, the APS becomes part of a larger therapeutic process designed to increase self-awareness and help clients recognize both their God-given strengths and areas in which unmet needs, unhealthy coping strategies, distorted thinking, or negative core beliefs may have contributed to difficulties in their lives.

Through this process, clients can begin learning that their past does not have to determine their future. As they develop a healthier understanding of themselves, identify and challenge negative core beliefs, strengthen coping skills, and establish healthier patterns of thinking and relating to others, they are provided with additional tools to support long-term recovery.

Ultimately, our purpose in utilizing the APS at Spring2Life Recovery is to help us see the individual behind the addiction. Every client enters treatment with a unique history, temperament, set of needs, strengths, struggles, and purpose. By gaining that understanding earlier in the therapeutic process, our clinical team can more intentionally meet clients where they are and walk alongside them as they pursue healing, freedom from addiction, restoration of healthy relationships, and lasting recovery.