Public Employee Press

Profile in Public Service
Deep respect for the despised

By JANE LaTOUR

Clinical Psychologist Dr. Steven Goldfinger is an educator, a mentor, and an active union member who serves the city and some of its most despised residents with top professional skills and deep respect.

An active member of Psychologists Local 1189 and a delegate to District Council 37, the Brooklyn native graduated from Richmond Hill High School and Yeshiva University and received his PhD from the State University of New York. From 1985 to 1989, Goldfinger cooked his way through graduate school in the kitchen of Gracie Mansion as weekend chef for Mayor Ed Koch.

But now his life centers on his work with the drug addicts and alcoholics of the detox unit at Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx. For 19 years, Goldfinger has honed his expertise working with severely addicted substance abusers. The 16-bed in-patient unit handles patients with a variety of addictions - from prescription drugs to heroin and alcohol - that cause severe withdrawal symptoms when addicts try to quit.

Most patients stay for only four to five days. "It used to be much longer, but changes in state regulations and reimbursement policy have cut the length of treatment," Goldfinger said.

Goldfinger describes the world of addiction with empathy. "It's hard for all of us to change. It takes repeated attempts. We're all accustomed to our habits, and when there's an addiction, it's much harder. Often, people are addicted to more than one substance."

Team works together

It takes a team to build a healing environment for the patients, he explains. Everyone is a critical part of the process, including the clerical workers, the Nurse, the Social Worker or counselor, the Psychologist and the cleaning staff.

"Many patients have acute medical problems that we have to address, and they need medications to help them through withdrawal. Their families are destabilized and relationships with their spouses and children are difficult or nonexistent. Many are homeless. Some are on parole or waiting for appointments in the criminal justice system. Dealing with all of these physical, emotional and social problems takes a long time, and the success rate isn't as high as we would hope," Goldfinger said.

"There is a lot more information now about how addiction affects the brain, and the physiological changes. Once you understand that, it's hard to have a moral judgment. People really want to get better, but it's such a struggle. Addiction has been described as a slow form of suicide," Goldfinger said. "We have to understand how people change, but ultimately, the person who is addicted has to make the decision."

Some 80 to 90 people move through the unit a month. "Young people don't start out thinking, 'I want to lose my family, my job, be homeless and have medical problems,' but that's the end result of addiction," he said. "There is a lot of help available. The most challenging part is helping people get motivated to accept that help."