On August 27, Community Advocates Public Policy Institute’s Kat Becker, the coordinator of the Southeast Region of the Alliance for Wisconsin Youth, facilitated a Responding to Addiction training for individuals looking to better understand addiction and Substance Use Disorder (SUD). Folks entered the room with varying levels of knowledge on the subject as well as personal experience, and they contributed stories, anecdotes, and words of wisdom.
The Addiction Policy Forum developed the Responding to Addiction multi-disciplinary workshop to increase knowledge about addiction, improve helping behaviors toward individuals living with a Substance Use Disorder, correct misconceptions about addiction, and reduce stigma.
Workshop participants learn, through both storytelling and science, a framework for how we can better understand addiction and Substance Use Disorders as a medical condition and complicated disease rather than a personal failure. Many people try and start using substances out of curiosity or due to social norms. Substance Use Disorders, which exist on a spectrum of severity, affect brain function as they develop and progress, making it harder to a person to control their use. As the brain believes its survival depends on using a substance, an individual’s decision-making erodes and becomes more compulsive. Fortunately, the brain can recover when the individual cuts down or stops their substance use.
As a conclusion, Kat prompted attendees to think about how they can take the information presented and bring it back to their workplace, community, or family in a way that will resonate. Options include compassionately responding to a relapse, debunking the myth of waiting for rock bottom, using non-stigmatizing language, or developing strategies for communicating non-judgmentally with someone struggling with addiction.
If you’re interested in bringing this training to your organization or attending as an individual, please contact Kat at KBecker@communityadvocates.net.
