DUBOIS – Clearfield-Jefferson Drug and Alcohol Commission will be offering a free, family recovery eight-week course for residents who are affected by another’s Substance Use Disorder/Addiction.
The course will be taught by BALM (Be A Loving Mirror) coach Stacey Karchner who has been helping families for over six years.
BALM evolved around the fact that those with Substance Use Disorder are human beings and deserving of love just as any other person is.
The family role is crucial and they can often turn the tide. Research shows when the family gets well, the loved one has a much better chance of getting and staying well.
The brains of those with SUD/Addiction are hijacked by a drug (believing it is needed to survive) and in turn the family’s brains are hijacked believing they can control or fix, and they become obsessed with the outcome.
The family needs just as much, if not more, recovery than the loved one. Because of the profound effect the BALM had on Stacey’s journey, she took intense training to become a BALM Family Recovery Life Coach and help other families get to the BALM sooner than she got to it.
The course Stacey will be teaching is a component of the BALM year program consisting of 12 lessons.
Lessons include topics such as The Crucial Role of the Family, How to Set Boundaries and Use Leverage, How to Help Motivate Change, Enabling Versus Helping, Self-Care, Mindfulness and more.
Family members find a new perspective and learn new ways of acting, being and speaking without the anger and judgement, becoming their loved one’s chief supporter rather than the obstacle.
The course starts April 19 and will be held every Wednesday, from 5:30 p.m. – 8 p.m., for eight weeks in-person at 480 Jeffers St., DuBois.
For every single person that abuses drugs four to ten others are impacted. To find out more about the course or to enroll, e-mail skarchner9@gmailcom or call 814-360-7590.