Download - Stigma Spring 2016
STIGMA MAGAZINE | 1
tigmaS
A Voice For The Voiceless.
SÉAN McCANN GREAT BIG RECOVERY
INVISIBLY DISABLED AT WORK
POST-TRAUMATIC GROWTH
2 | STIGMA MAGAZINE
Get Your Health on TrackGet Your Health on Track
www.SprayItAway.com
Weight LossVitaminsMinerals
Are you ready to change your life or help others to change theirs?Are you healthy? Do you feel good? Do you have energy? Do your clothes fit? Are you the weight & shape that is ideal for you? Almost everyone wants to improve their health and lose some weight. We offer the best supplements available and we ship them right to your door.
Get $10 o� your next order of $40 or more. Use coupon code stigma01 by February 29, 2016.
“I lost 125 lbs in 11 months using Spray It Away, VitaMistTM (Multiple and B12-500) and X2O as a mineral supplement. I have lots of
energy and I feel great!” David S.
STIGMA MAGAZINE | 3
Spring 2016
tigmaS
Stigma Magazine is one of Canada’s
premier magazines addressing the
needs of the 1 in 5 people who expe-
rience a mental illness or substance
use problem in their lifetime. Stigma
presents informative, and inspiring
articles that show readers not just
how to deal with their mental health
and addiction, but how to enjoy a
healthy life style.
Publisher: Luke de Leseleuc
Creative Director: Julia Breese
Contact: [email protected]
www.stigmamagazine.com
250.508.8562
Published by:
CONT
ENTS
From the Editor ....................................................5From the Assistant Editor......................................7Andrew’s Corner: The Heart of a Lioness...............9Séan McCann: Great Big Recovery......................13A Campus Call to Action....................................17Being a Ghost: Invisibly Disabled at Work.........21Post-Traumatic Growth....................................23Does Forced Drug TreatmentActually Work?..............................................27The Value of Innocence .................................29A Place Where Your Secrets See Light................31The Story of Kinghaven Peardonville House Society..............................33Helping Youth with Substance Use Issues.........37
4 | STIGMA MAGAZINE
RECOVERYDAYCANADA CELEBRATES
RECOVERY FROM
ADDICTION SEPTEMBER 2016
START OR LEARNABOUTEVENTS INYOUR CITY AT
WWW.RECOVERYDAYCANADA.COM
*FREE EVENT
CHARLOTTETOWN • SUMMERSIDE • GRAND FALLS • SAINT JOHN • MONCTONHALIFAX • FREDERICTON • MONTREAL • OTTAWA • THUNDER BAY
BARRIE • TORONTO • LONDON • WINDSOR • HAMILTONREGINA • SASKATOON • PRINCE ALBERT • PRINCE
GEORGE • RED DEER • EDMONTON • BROOKSCALGARY • LETHBRIDGE • RICHMOND
VANCOUVER • VERNONCHATHAM-KENT
LONDONVICTORIA
WEAR A SILVER RIBBON FOR
RECOVERY MONTHSEPTEMBER
STIGMA MAGAZINE | 5
SPRING: A TIME OF NEW BEGINNINGS and looking
forward. If I’ve learned anything from publishing
Stigma, it’s how welcoming and supporting the re-
covery community is. Nearly everyone is willing and excit-
ed to share their story, and wants to support other people
in recovery however and whenever possible.
So that being said, I would like to announce that Stig-
ma Magazine is now part of the BeYouPromise.org family,
a charitable non-profit organization whose mission is to
educate Canadians on the benefits of moderation or re-
straint in the use of alcohol and/or drugs. So what does
this mean moving forward? Well, I will still be the publish-
er of Stigma and we will continue being a “voice for the
voiceless.”Being part of the BeYouPromise.org family will
bring stability, and with that stability comes much-need-
ed help in putting the magazine together.
I’d like to thank everyone who has supported the mag-
azine from the very beginning and would also like to take
this opportunity to welcome any of you who may be new
readers. From day one, our mission has been to produce
a magazine that is relevant to, and reflective of, the ad-
dictions and mental health communities. From all indi-
cations, we are meeting our objective. Your feedback has
been extremely positive and we thank you for your kind
words and continued support. In this issue, our featured
article on Sean McCann, one of the founding members
of Great Big Sea, talks about his recovery and how it has
changed the direction of his life. We also talk about men-
tal health in the workplace and some of †he challenges
that employers and employees face. We’re sure you’ll find
the articles informative.
By supporting people in the recovery community, and
recognizing our own susceptibility, we can continue to
grow a larger and stronger recovery community. We in-
vite you to write or e-mail us with your thoughts. We look
forward to hearing from you. Luke de Leseleuc
Luke de Leseleuc
FROM THE PUBLISHER
6 | STIGMA MAGAZINE
Your People Matter Most to You… and to us too. They’ve been there to help you with your changes.
Do they need your support to get well?
They carry the stigma of a disease that shouldn’t take a lifetime to treat.
YOU can increase their chances
with help from Fresh Start*
Affordable with Exemplary Service Successfully providing solutions
that recover lives and reunite families and employees ….
one step at a time since 1992. *Selected as the best treatment centre in Canada
by the Donner Canadian Foundation in 2014, 2013 & 2010; ranked among
the top 3 each year since 2006.
www.freshstartrecovery.ca (403)387-6266 Toll Free 1-(844)768-6266 Calgary, AB
Helping one person at a time, Reverend Al and donors like you deliver proactive services to the most vulnerable members of our community.
GIVE TODAY AT HOPELIVESHERE.CA
778.440.1471
STIGMA MAGAZINE | 7
I’VE BEEN THINKING A LOT ABOUT the term “resil-
ience” lately. It cropped up in Cassie Hooker’s piece on
post-traumatic growth that appears in this issue, and
since then I feel like I have been reading it in a lot of stories
and essays about addiction and recovery.
As Cassie writes in her piece, the idea is that, when a per-
son overcomes their addiction or mental-health struggle,
they emerge with something other than a path to recov-
ery: they’ve also grown as a person and gained invaluable
knowledge as a result of their suffering. It’s similar to the
old “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” adage (al-
though I do loathe the violent, confrontational language
we often use when talking about dealing with addiction,
mental-health issues or chronic illnesses, but that’s a whole
other column).
While I appreciate this sentiment and think it’s powerful
to acknowledge that reaching a significant milestone like
recovery provides one with valuable skills that can serve us
for the rest of our lives, we need to recognize that resilience
is something that is present in people throughout their
journey, not just something that materializes at the end.
Resilience is what helps someone decide that they want to
do something about their drinking. It’s what gets them up
off the ground and helps them say, “I’m going to try again,”
when they have stumbled for the second, 20th, or 50th time.
It’s what helped them to survive the horrific trauma that,
for some, led them down the path to addiction in the first
place. And, if complete sobriety isn’t what your recovery
looks like, it’s the inner strength, or the time spent con-
fronting issues in your life, that allows you to stop after that
second beer or live in the healthiest, happiest way possible.
So, wherever you are in your journey to recovery, whether
it’s merely an inkling in the back of your mind or when you
pick up your 25-year chip at your next AA meeting, I ac-
knowledge your resilience. We all have a lot to teach each
other.
On another note, this will be my last dispatch on these
pages for a little while as I take time off to care for my new
child. While I’ve often said this is very much Luke’s labour
of love, it’s been an honour hearing how grateful the com-
munity is to read the stories on these pages, and to see the
regular writers grow and blossom as they bring you said
stories. All the best to our readers in 2016.
Amanda Farrell-Low
From the Assistant Editor
8 | STIGMA MAGAZINE
Bright FutureA full day conference on mental illness,
addictions, and recovery.
Register today: www.healthymindscanada.ca
AUGUST 19, 2016TELUS House, 25 York St
Toronto, ON
STIGMA MAGAZINE | 9
AS PARENTS, WE TEACH OUR CHILDREN the val-
ue of giving, and doing things for others. We try
to instill in them a healthy respect for life, and the
desire to do good things for their fellow man. When we
send them out into the world, armed with years of being
taught by example, it is with the hope that they will use
the lessons we give them. Most grow into beautiful hu-
man beings; every so often, though, a child takes what is
given them, and goes a step or two further with it.
ALEXANDRA SCOTT WAS SUCH A CHILD.
Born on January 18th, 1996, Alex was one of four chil-
dren. She loved school, and wanted to be a fashion de-
signer when she grew up. Her favourite animals were
penguins, and her favourite colours were purple and blue.
She was a girl in love with life, who shared her kind heart
with others whenever she could.
SHE WAS A CHILD WHO ALSO BATTLED CANCER.
Not long before her first birthday, Alex was diagnosed
with neuroblastoma- a type of
cancer that most common-
ly affects children less than
5 years old. Her doctors told
her family that, assuming she
managed to beat her cancer,
it was quite unlikely that she
would ever learn to walk. As
By Cassie Hooker
THE HEART OF A LIONESS
Andrew’s Corner
10 | STIGMA MAGAZINE
a testament to her courage and inspiring nature, however,
she was able to move one of her legs not two weeks af-
ter receiving this troubling verdict. By the time her second
birthday rolled around, she had learned how to crawl, and
could stand with the help of leg braces. She called on all
her willpower to build up her strength so that she could
learn to walk.
FROM THE START, ALEX WAS A GIRL ON A MISSION.
By age 3, it appeared that she had beaten the odds. It
seemed like her cancer was gone, giving her family a false
hope, until the devastating discovery that her tumours had
come back. In 2000, just a day after her birthday, Alex had
a stem cell transplant. It was then that she told her mom
of her intention to hold a lemonade stand when she got
out of the hospital; she was going to raise money for the
hospital that she had come to consider “hers”. With the
help of one of her brothers later that same year, Alex raised
$2000 with her very first stand.
While battling her own cancer, Alex held lemonade
stands each year after that, raising funds in support of
childhood cancer research. It wasn’t long before word of
this amazing little girl began to spread, and people all over
the world began to hold their own lemonade stands, in
support of Alex and her cause. It was an intention to do
good, that grew- like wildfire- into a movement.
In August 2004, at age 8, Alexandra Scott passed away.
She passed, with the knowledge that she-
and all those who rallied behind her-
had raised more than 1 million
dollars to help find a cure for
the disease that had eventually
claimed her.
With the support of a fan
base that ranged around the world,
in honour of their courageous little
girl, the Scott family continued the
legacy that Alex had begun. In
2005, Alex’s
Lemonade Stand Foundation was born, and it’s purpose
was clear: it was a foundation committed to not only rais-
ing funds in order to further research in the field of child-
hood cancers, but also to making new treatments accessi-
ble to those in need and improving the quality of patient
through targeted nursing training programs.
Through its diverse means of fund-raising, including the
simple lemonade stand by which it was all started, Alex’s
Lemonade Stand Foundation literally raises funds one cup
at a time- allowing people from all walks of life to be a part
of the change they want to see in the world. It is the collec-
tive belief of the foundation that everyone- even children-
can make a difference. True to the intention of the little girl
who inspired it- with the money it’s raised- Alex’s Lemon-
ade Stand Foundation has pushed forth innovations in the
field of childhood cancer, forever changing the landscape
of pediatric oncology.
To date, Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation has raised
over 100 million dollars, providing critical funding for over
500 research projects, with the goal of ending childhood
cancer.
It is true that we, as parents, push our children into the
great big world with lumps in our throats, and the firm
hope that they use the lessons we spend years in teaching
them. It is safe to say that, in her 8 short years, Alex took
what she was taught, and used it to make a true difference
in the world.
To learn how you can help raise funds to
support childhood cancer research,
visit: www.alexslemonade.org
STIGMA MAGAZINE | 11
We’ve been there. We can help.
Umbrella_FP_StigmaSept2015.indd 1 2015-08-08 12:10 PM
SÉAN McCANN HAS OVERCOME HIS SHARE of
demons over the years. On November 14th, 2013,
the founding member of Great Big Sea decided
to leave the acclaimed Canadian band and start a new
chapter of his life. Now he shares his story with others
who may be battling their own demons, and spreads the
message that, “We are not alone and that no ever has to
feel alone.”
LDL: Music has obviously been a big part of your life. What
part has music played in your recovery?
SM: It was the key to my recovery. When I quit drinking
and using I was faced with the pain and my anes-
thetic was removed. My memories and the pain of
my abuse when I was a kid started coming back
and now I didn’t have anything to help me deal
with it. But with my guitar, I was able to look at
it and start dealing with it. I was able to pick up
my guitar and start using words and music to
take away the pain without using. It became
what I needed to get through it, my go-to
every day. I’ve worked with music therapists
and I really believe that music is strong
medicine. It can really soothe and take
pain away better than a needle or a bottle
of rum. It’s more effective, because it ac-
tually helps you deal with the problem.
LDL: What were some of the biggest challenges you were
facing during the beginning of your recovery?
SM: That’s a good question. The first thing I experienced
was isolation. I had a lot of friends. I was a pretty popular
guy! But your drinking buddies are your drinking buddies.
When the liquor disappeared, they scattered and they
weren’t there. I was alone. Suddenly I had this real sense
of isolation, which added to the problem. So I started re-
cording these songs in my studio that I had in my head
and started to learn how to do things on my own. I started
putting my energy into recording.
Then I started putting these songs out there and the
reaction to [my album] Help Your Self was huge. People
would listen to a song and they would immediately reach
out to me on Twitter, email or my website and tell me,
“You know that song is about me,” or “that song is about
my mother, or my brother.” So I suddenly realized that I
wasn’t alone. That made all of the difference. I’m really
glad I put that record out. It was a very personal record.
When people reached out to me, I realized I wasn’t alone
anymore. That was something I needed to hear. Their re-
action got me through the other side. I’m okay because
I’m not alone. That’s the one thing I find consistently when
people come up and talk to me. They thought they were
alone. When people hear me say it, they come to realize
that, “Hey, he’s okay, he’s alive, he’s survived, it’s possible to
be okay.” And it is, because we are not alone.
SÉAN McCANNGREAT BIG RECOVERY
By Luke de Leseleuc
STIGMA MAGAZINE | 13
LDL: When you play your songs, and the people are re-
lating to the stories of your songs, how much of an im-
pact has that made on you and how did it help you walk
through the fire?
SM: I’m saying a lot more at these shows and at my pub-
lic speaking engagements — more than I ever have in my
career. It’s important. If I have any regrets, it’s that I wish I
had said more earlier. But now I have more time to make
up for that. It’s not easy sharing your story. You know, you
can’t be happy all of the time. I’ve learned that if you don’t
allow for the darkness, you really don’t appreciate the
light. It’s the shadows that bring out the light. Learning to
live with the dark is the key.
We all want to be happy, right? Every one of us experienc-
es lows. It’s how we
deal with the lows.
You can drink them
away temporarily
or you can actually
deal with them and
understand them.
It wasn’t easy and
that’s what I’m talk-
ing about. Walking
through the fire
wasn’t easy. But you
become stronger as
a result of walking
through it. My song
“Stronger” became my battlecry helping me get through
it. Hopefully, what I’m doing now helps people. I believe
that everyone is worthy of love and happiness. For me,
that’s the driver. Let’s make sure everyone knows that.
LDL: During your journey of recovery, what has been one of
the biggest surprises that you’ve learned about yourself?
SM: I’m tougher than I thought I was. You live in fear and
fear comes from a lot of different places. Fear of failure is
a big thing. People don’t want to see themselves as fail-
ures. I must have quit drinking a thousand times and that
added to my depression, because I thought I was a failure.
I didn’t like being a failure. I was a very successful person.
I remember Googling the term alcoholic because I sus-
pected I had a problem. Now when you suspect you have
a problem, you have a problem! So I Googled the term al-
coholic and said, “Oh, that’s what the problem is. Okay! I’ll
just stop. I can fix this!” But it was harder than I thought. I
couldn’t do it. It took a long time. But ultimately I was able
to do it. You know, I’m not a particularly strong person. But
if I can do it, other people can do it too. People are much
stronger than they think they are.
LDL: I read this biography on actor Spencer Tracy a few
years ago and there was a line that has always stayed with
me: “acting’s good until you get caught.” What does that
statement mean to you?
SM: My grandfather
used to say, “It’s a
great life if you don’t
weaken,” and my
grandmother used
to say, “If you scaled
your arse you got to
learn how to sit on
the blisters.” I know
a lot of people who
are still acting. It
rings true to me be-
cause I was fooling
myself. I was con-
vincing myself that I
didn’t have a problem and that this didn’t happen. “I’m
okay! I’m just going to have a drink.” You’re fooling yourself
and you’re wasting your time. You’re dealing with nothing.
I think that’s what that means.
When I run into people I see it happen all the time. I see
people and I’m like, “You’re acting. You’re fooling yourself.”
That’s why sincerity is important to me. I really don’t have a
high threshold for that anymore. My tolerance for bullshit
is gone. I can smell it and there are a lot of people who
talk and say nothing. I find that a waste of time. You know
that’s what I think Spencer Tracy is talking about. You’re
fooling yourself, and that’s what you have to avoid. That’s
the key. I think it’s so important. It doesn’t matter what
other people think, but that’s what people get wrapped
EVERY ONE OF US EXPERIENCES LOWS. YOU CAN DRINK THEM AWAY TEMPORARILY OR YOU CAN DEAL
WITH THEM AND UNDERSTAND THEM. WALKING THROUGH THE FIRE WASN’T EASY. BUT YOU BECOME STRONGER AS A RESULT OF WALKING THROUGH IT.
““
14 | STIGMA MAGAZINE
STIGMA MAGAZINE | 15
up in. What are people going to say?
A journalist once asked me, “Are you concerned your kids
are going to find out about this? You are being so open
about your drinking and your recovery.” I said to him, “No.
I think they are really going to be proud of me, because
their father changed his life for them. He told the truth
and he was able to face it rather than live with a secret.”
Secrets can kill you. You know I wouldn’t be here today
[if I had kept drinking]. I would have lost my family and I
would’ve died. So when I look at it that way, my kids are
going to look at this whole story and say, “Wow, my dad did
this for me, because he loved me.”
LDL: What message of hope would you like to share with
the people out there who might be struggling?
SM: I would like to tell them that they are not alone. No
one is alone. We are in this together. Everyone is worthy
of love and capable of finding it, no matter how bad it is. I
really believe that! Life can be unpredictable and it can be
horrible, but there’s always an alternative. For people who
are not lucky enough to have had the problem, keep your
eyes open and be prepared to help those who need help.
It’s a two-way street. My “Help Your Self” song was tongue-
in-cheek and it was another kind of battlecry for me to
attack my addiction. What I was really doing was accept-
ing and realizing that I needed help. So don’t be afraid
to admit you have a problem. The worst thing you can do
is pretend. The worst thing you can do is to continue to
be that actor your whole life. You’ll miss your life. If you’re
going to do it for the sake of the stage and the audience,
you’re being foolish. That was my life. I was on that stage
living the dream… pretending.
During his journey of self-discovery and recovery Séan
has released two albums; Help Your Self and You Know I
Love You. He continues to share his life story through his
music and speaking engagements with the NSB speak-
ing agency. He’s doing as much as he can to help other
people. He has opened his eyes, he has learned how to sit
on his blisters and he is prepared to help those who need
help.
For more information on Séan McCann visit:
www.seanmccannsings.com
16 | STIGMA MAGAZINE
tigmaS
Stigma Magazine features positive, in-depth insight and tools to keep your clients engaged on their road to wellness and recovery. Create a lasting impression and keep your patients, clients and event attendees con-nected to you. Let us show you how affordable and effective it can be to position your message in front of Stigma’s growing audience of people who are passionate about wellness and recovery.
Advertise with Stigma magazine
LET STIGMA KEEP YOUR CLIENTS CONNECTED WITH YOU.
250.508.8562 Stigma Magazine | A Voice for the Voiceless
www.stigmamagazine.com
STIGMA MAGAZINE | 17
ON COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY CAMPUSES ACROSS
North America, September sees a flurry of activi-
ty; students line up to register for classes, pay tui-
tion, buy textbooks, and settle into their new classrooms,
dorms and residences. Some of them leave their entire
family and social support networks behind to attend the
school of their choice in other parts of the continent or
even the world.
These days at Ithaca New York’s Cornell University,
something a little different happens in September —
something that would have been unheard of for earlier
generations of students: steel mesh nets are installed
under each of the seven bridges on campus. Overlook-
ing the beautiful gorges that Ithaca is famous for, these
bridges saw a total of six student suicides in 2010.
The steel nets, highly visible and effective, are a sign of
the times; they acknowledge the fact that even the best
and brightest are struggling. Shortly after the suicides,
university president David Skorton told the Cornell Daily
Sun that he considered these deaths to be “the tip of the
iceberg, indicative of a much larger spectrum of mental
health challenges faced by many on our campus and on
campuses everywhere.”
THE NATURE OF THE BEAST
Last year, Ryerson University in Toronto saw a 200 per-
cent rise in the demand for services capable of respond-
ing to the needs of students in mental and emotional
By Cassie Hooker
A CAMPUS CALL TO ACTION
18 | STIGMA MAGAZINE
crisis. The problem of negative student mental health
has been growing exponentially over the last few years.
According to Robin Everall, a provost fellow for student
mental health in the University of Alberta, “It’s across all
of North America.”
On top of daily stresses relating to their family, finances,
or even a previous medical diagnosis, students face an of-
ten overwhelming push to succeed at whatever cost, now
more than ever. With the current competitive job mar-
ket, and the fact that students are constantly “connected”
via technology and social media, we’ve ended up with a
generation of students who not only disregard their own
health in order to succeed in school, but also no longer
has the time or ability to disconnect and unwind — some-
thing that is necessary for mental wellness in anyone.
In an effort to quantify the needs of its student body,
The University of Alberta conducted a survey of 1,600 stu-
dents in 2011; the results show there is something terribly
wrong with the system. In that survey, 51 percent report-
ed feelings of hopelessness and overwhelming anxiety,
while 7 percent admitted to seriously considering suicide;
1 percent actually attempted it.
The problem has hit home here on the west coast, too.
The University of Victoria has been showing signs of fol-
lowing this disturbing trend. Although measures are be-
ing put in place to open a community dialogue about
student mental health, the waitlist to see on-campus
counsellors and specialists remains long.
Maria Browning,* a second-year student at UVic, had to
wait several weeks before she was able to speak with a
counsellor.
“I was at the top of my class in high school,” she says.
“After coming to university, I found that I was competing
with so many others who were also at the top of their
class. I’m struggling to keep my grades up, and there’s so
much pressure to do well. I had a mental breakdown in
my first year because of it. I had to take a semester off.”
HOPEFUL BEGINNINGS
Although the problem of poor student mental health
reached its critical point before institutional and commu-
nity dialogues began to really address the issue, there is
hope for current and future students. At the University
of Victoria, as well as educational institutions all across
North America, steps are being made to take the stigma
off of mental wellness and encourage those suffering to
reach out. After an extensive consultation process, the
university executive at UVic approved a three-year Stu-
dent Mental Health Strategy, which aims to ensure that
the mental-health services available to its students are
well coordinated, and strategically employed and mon-
itored, operating within a common framework of princi-
ples and goals.
STIGMA MAGAZINE | 19
Although students feeling overwhelmed and not get-
ting the help they need has led to an unfortunate rise in
student suicides over the last few years, professionals and
students alike are coming together to make change hap-
pen. Some institutional initiatives are taking the profes-
sional-led approach to student mental health, using the
assistance of counsellors and psychologists. Others are
choosing to expand their mental wellness campaigns to
include student-to-student programs, like Brock Universi-
ty’s Cope.Care.Connect, a student-led initiative designed
to help those suffering find successful ways to cope with
their problems.
Outside of the campus context, there are also options
available for students having suicidal thoughts. For a
complete listing of crisis centres across Canada, as well as
other resources, please visit: suicideprevention.ca. If you
need someone to talk to, but can’t go to a crisis centre,
please visit: suicide.org/hotlines/international/canada-su-
icide-hotlines.html
* Name changed at the request of the student
Get answers to your questions
no questions asked…
Free • confidential1-800-665-2437
hep c • aids • hiv • prevention • testing • treatment
20 | STIGMA MAGAZINE
INSPIRING HOPE AND HEALTH
TAKE THE BE YOU PROMISE
WWW.BEYOUPROMISE.ORGStigma Magazine is published by Be You Promise.Org
STIGMA MAGAZINE | 21
DON’T YOU JUST LOVE THAT “OPTIONAL” question-
naire when you’re done applying for a job in the
United States that asks whether or not you have
a disability?
While my experience is based in America, many Cana-
dian employers have similar questionnaires or boxes to
tick when you fill out a job application, or state promi-
nently on a job posting that they are an equal opportuni-
ty employer. Here in the U.S., the questionnaire goes on
further to cite “United States federal regulations on hiring
person(s) with…”Then you answer the question honestly,
stating, “Yes! Yes! I am disabled!”
Don’t you just love that?
After some time passes, you don’t hear back from the
employer, but eventually you get an email that states,
“While your skills and credentials were impressive…” Blah.
By D. E. Harris, MSW, LSW
BEING A GHOSTINVISIBLY DISABLED AT WORK
Blah. Blah. You just so happen to walk past said agency
you applied at, take a look inside and find someone in a
wheelchair working your job.
Don’t you just hate that?
It appears that seeing a disability makes a stronger case
than not seeing one. For example, if you were to ask for
work accommodations, people can generally understand
a blind person’s request for something like a service an-
imal — but if you had severe depression and needed to
work four days instead of five because your psychiatrist
only sees people on Fridays; people will want to know
why you get Fridays off. After all, you don’t look disabled!
In Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, we meet the
ghost of the late Jacob Marley, a co-worker of Ebenezer
Scrooge, a stubborn, witless, profit mongrel who cared
very little about the welfare of others. On the off chance
you aren’t familiar with the whole story, I’m not going
to get into the whole plot, but when Marley’s ghost ap-
peared, it is bound in chains made of ledgers of this
dead-a-cation to his job in life and a cloth that held up
his jaw.
Let’s look at the scenario of Marley’s ghostly visit with
Scrooge and take away the chain of ledgers and cloth—
what do we get? Just a ghost that failed to file a grievance
before he died, but decided to air his complaint without
anything to show to support it.
Being a ghost sucks! And people with mental health
conditions are said to have an “invisible” disability, a dis-
ability that needs to be proven. And despite all efforts
to seek accommodations on the job, most employers (if
they hire you) will be hesitant to provide aids because of
a broad belief that mental health conditions aren’t real,
and if they are real, the employer is tongue-tied to ex-
plain his or her actions to envious employees.
In the end, an employer has two options: hire the per-
son with a visible disability that comfortably satisfies the
United States government’s disability hiring policy or
hire the person with a mental health condition whose
co-workers will wonder why he or she gets special treat-
ment over them. You can see the obvious choice.
Here is a common situation for folks here in Penn-
sylvania: the United States Office of Vocational Re-
habilitations lost state funding so you have to wait
six months to see a counselor. Social Security is
threatening to take away your benefits after the third
medical review this month. Welfare is sending you
letters stating if you don’t start working you’ll lose
your Pennsylvania Supplemental Nutrition Assistance
Program benefits (also known as food stamps), and now
you can’t be hired because you don’t look disabled. These
are the never ending perks of being a ghost.
Don’t you just love that?
D. E. Harris is a licensed behavioral health practitioner
and certified trauma-competent professional, who has
been a social welfare advocate for nearly 10 years. He is an
accomplished essayist, researcher, psychotherapist and
Adjunct Professor at Harcum College. He lives in Phila-
delphia, PA.
22 | STIGMA MAGAZINE
POST-TRAUMATIC GROWTHFINDING THE SILVER LINING AFTER ADDICTION
POST-TRAUMATIC GROWTH (PTG) IS A NEW term
that is being tossed around in Canada’s psycholog-
ical dialogue. First coined by psychologists Richard
G. Tedeschi and Lawrence G. Calhoun in 1996, PTG refers to
the emotional/psychological growth that can occur after
one has grappled with addiction or other mental trauma.
The idea that trauma can have the ability to transform
the sufferer is not new — in fact, it has its foundation in the
ancient teachings of Hinduism and Buddhism. Modern in-
terest in PTG began gaining momentum in the mid-1990s,
founded on the notion that attention should be given to
studying healthy people, as well as studying the positive
aspects of human behaviour. Stephen Joseph, co-director
for the Center for Trauma, Resilience and Growth in Not-
tingham, England, writes in his book What Doesn’t Kill Us:
The New Psychology of Posttraumatic Growth that PTG is
more than a new acronym: “It promises to radically alter
our ideas about trauma— especially the notion that trau-
ma inevitably leads to a damaged and dysfunctional life.”
Post-Traumatic Growth doesn’t imply that addiction
is good, but does allow that good can come from it — in
essence, trauma gives us a choice between suffering and
growing as a result, or suffering and not growing at all.
RESILIENCE VS. THRIVING
The closest term that traditional psychology has to PTG
is “resilience;” basically, one’s ability to return to the way
they were prior to addiction…bouncing back, as it were.
The problem with resilience, in this case, is that most peo-
ple in recovery can never return to the way they were be-
fore addiction. For many, it really is true that, after you hit
rock bottom, the only way you can go is up.
STIGMA MAGAZINE | 23
As those who have dealt with substance abuse know,
there is little about addiction that is rosy; any positive
steps made after choosing to be sober are significantly
tempered by what is experienced during active addiction.
However, when the way one looks at the world has been
thrown into upheaval by trauma, one is given a unique op-
portunity to remake their reality.
This is where “thriving” comes into play. Thriving is dif-
ferent from resilience in that it goes beyond returning to
a baseline, allowing people in recovery to be better than
they were by finding the silver lining within their trauma.
In order to understand the nature of thriving, it’s impor-
tant to remember that growth doesn’t happen without
suffering. After addiction, some are able to build a reality
for themselves that is filled with hope, personal strength
and a kind of wisdom that they wouldn’t have been able
to appreciate before their addiction.
“A small percentage of people cannot return to their
previous level of functioning after a traumatic event,” says
Anna A. Berardi, director of George Fox University’s Trauma
Response Institute. “Most people emerge from a trauma
wiser, with a deeper appreciation of life.”
The growth that can happen in the context of thriving
manifests itself as greater self-acceptance, a change in pri-
orities, deepening relationships, the development of em-
pathy, and learning one’s personal strength.
James Rosecourt* was an alcoholic for 10 years. Sober
for nearly 26 years now, he indicates that his priorities have
changed “from needing to have a drink to needing to look
after my family. I now no longer turn to the bottle to solve
my problems.”
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY
PTG is largely associated with Positive Psychology. The
approach that traditional psychology has to resiliency
is oriented toward the problem in question; this means
either fixing the issue or simply avoiding it so that one’s
baseline well-being can be maintained. The problem with
this approach is that it doesn’t acknowledge the fact that
growth can happen that exceeds the baseline — that is,
growth that goes beyond who the person was before their
addiction. Although it is typically applied to suicide be-
reavement, Positive Psychology attempts to reconcile this
while investigating one’s ability to grow within the context
Get answers to your questions
no questions asked…
Free • confidential1-800-665-2437
hep c • aids • hiv • prevention • testing • treatment
24 | STIGMA MAGAZINE
The Be You Youth Healthy Choices and Anti-Drug Scholarship Program has been designed to support and encourage hardworking, deserving students graduating from a Greater Victoria high school to further their education at a post-secondary institution. Ten $1,000 scholarships will be awarded.
For further information contact Luke de Leseleuc at [email protected], call (778) 746-7799 or visit www.beyoupromise.org/scholarship
BE YOU YOUTH HEALTHY CHOICES AND ANTI-DRUG SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM
Be You Promise.Org | Suite 703 -1803 Douglas St. Victoria, BCE [email protected] | P 778.746.7799 | TF 866.238.3077
WHERE WILL YOUR CHOICES TAKE YOU?
of the trauma. Since its fundamental approach is broad,
Positive Psychology in the larger sense — and Post-Trau-
matic Growth in particular — can be applied to people
who have grappled with addiction.
“Mental health professionals have a long history of look-
ing only at what’s wrong with human functioning,” says
Anna. “But if you ask people, ‘Have you been through
something difficult and come out the other side stronger,
wiser and more compassionate?’ the majority of us would
answer yes. That’s powerful proof that as humans we’re
wired to grow as a result of hardship.”
HOW DOES PTG WORK?
Informally referred to as “benefit finding,” PTG is some-
times demonstrated as decreased reactivity to similarly
stressful events in the future, or the ability to recover faster;
it also often affects a drastic change in the way you relate
to and think about the world around you.
Generally, those with greater self-confidence, better sup-
port (and, thus, more opportunities for communication),
as well as the ability to accept things they can’t change
report the highest degrees of Post-Traumatic Growth. This
growth isn’t a direct result of the trauma itself, but rather
the recovering person’s struggle with constructing their
post-addiction reality.
“Since I decided to become sober, I’ve dealt with my di-
vorce, the deaths of my brother, sister-in-law and neph-
ew,” says James, “and having two young kids with special
needs, without once returning to the bottle. I commu-
nicate openly with my partner, and am able to work
through my problems better. There are still times when I
think about drinking, but I’m strong enough to resist the
urge now.”
Post-Traumatic Growth, and everything that is contained
within it, has given the experts a way to both express and
recognize what has been in plain sight all along: the enor-
mous ability of trauma to transform survivors so that they
become better than they were before their addiction.
For more information, visit www.trauma-recovery.ca/
resiliency/post-traumatic-growth/
*Name changed at interviewee’s request
STIGMA MAGAZINE | 25
26 | STIGMA MAGAZINE
DOES FORCED DRUG TREATMENT ACTUALLY WORK?
WHY CAN’T WE JUST MAKE PEOPLE
go to addiction treatment? This is
a question some may be asking
in light of recent overdose deaths and other
drug-related problems in Victoria. Is forcing
people to get help an effective response to
the problems caused by addiction? It turns
out the evidence is murky—and the research
may not even be asking the right questions.
Compulsory addiction treatment does exist
in Canada in a number of different forms. Peo-
ple can be formally mandated to a treatment
program as an alternative to going to jail or as
a condition of parole or probation. People can
also be compelled to get help in order to keep
their jobs, their children, their social assistance
benefits, and so on. Where the data are availa-
ble in Canada, the statistics show that around
1 in 5 people attending services for addiction
are required to be there.
Advocates of compulsory treatment ar-
gue that providing services and supports for
addiction is more humane, economical, and
effective than putting people in jail, firing
them, or letting them hit “rock bottom.” These
arguments have (quite reasonably) led to a
large number of studies aimed at determin-
ing whether or not forcing someone to attend
treatment “works.” After decades of research,
why is this still such a controversial topic?
At this point, it has become apparent that
the right question is not whether or not man-
dated treatment works, but under what cir-
cumstances might it work and how? And
under what circumstances does it become
yet another negative experience with the sys-
tem, leading to further marginalization and
drug-related harms? Here’s why.
The majority of studies have focused on
mandates from the legal system (e.g., through
the courts). Findings differ across studies, but
most show that people who are court-man-
dated seem to do just as well in treatment as
others. However, people who are court-man-
dated tend to be different from those who
are not. Specifically, they tend to be younger
and less severely addicted. Comparing groups
of people who are different to begin with,
finding that they differ (or not) at the end of
a study, and chalking that finding up to treat-
ment is not good science.
Another important issue is that personal
motivation and other life circumstances play
a role in recovery, and this is true whether
By Dr. Karen Urbanoski
STIGMA MAGAZINE | 27
or not the person is required to be there. Many people
who are court-mandated report low motivation to at-
tend treatment, but not all. Many of those who are not
court-mandated report low motivation and would not
describe themselves as “voluntary.” Comparing people
who do and do not have a court mandate is opportunis-
tic research, but it misses the point if we are interested in
knowing whether addiction services are effective when
they are forced versus voluntary.
Current policies on compulsory treatment implicitly as-
sume that people who do not initially want to be there
will “come around” with time. However, this has never ac-
tually been studied. If the point of compulsory treatment
is to help people make steps toward recovery, then this is
exactly the kind of research that needs to be conducted.
We need to figure out the best ways to support and in-
crease people’s mo-
tivation and their
capacity for deci-
sion-making.
Of course it is preferable (and likely more effective) if
we can help someone early on, before their problems get
really bad. But it is not at all clear that the people who
are being diverted from the legal system to addiction
treatment are ones who are most in need, or the ones
who will end up being most in need down the road. If
we aren’t careful, there is ample opportunity for inequi-
ties to arise in terms of who is even offered the choice of
going to treatment. There is some evidence that this may
already be happening. A recent review of Canada’s Drug
Treatment Courts found that the majority of those divert-
ed from prison via the program are middle-aged white
men. This means women, youth, and indigenous peo-
ples—among the prime target groups of the program—are
not being served.
There is no doubt that some people mandated to treat-
ment have been helped. But it is far from a panacea. Even
with a variety of strategies in place to compel people into
programs, the most severely affected people are still fall-
ing through the cracks.
The bottom line is that no society will ever treat its
way out of addiction. Yes, addiction treatment can help
people. A continuum of services should be accessible
to everyone. At the same time, the impacts of poverty,
homelessness, colonialism, racism, and mental illness are
not solved by a short stint in a treatment program. Such
complex problems will require systemic policy changes
that extend far beyond what addiction services are able
to provide.
Dr. Karen Urbanoski is the Canada Research Chair
in Substance Use, Addictions and Health Services
Research, and a Scientist with the Centre for Addic-
tions Research of British Columbia (CARBC) and an
Assistant Professor in Public Health and Social Policy
at the University of Victoria. Her research focuses on
the development and course of substance use prob-
lems and addiction, and the roles played by health
and social service systems in recovery.
This post originally appeared on CARBC’s Matters
of Substance blog at oac.uvic.ca/carbc
28 | STIGMA MAGAZINE
STIGMA MAGAZINE | 29
THE FIRST TIME I ATTENDED A yoga class was at the
end of a year spent struggling with an addiction. I
had resolved to exercise as part of my commitment
to a healthier lifestyle. Yoga had been recommended to
me as a gentle way to transition back into my body.
When I arrived at the studio the teacher greeted me
with a warm smile. I told her I was new to the practice and
that I was looking for something to help improve my flexi-
bility. She explained to me that the style she was teaching,
Yin Yoga, could be challenging at first. She advised that I
take lots of props to help support myself during the class.
With the gentle ring of a chime the class started. We
were guided through a short prayer and a moment of si-
lence as we were asked to create an intention for our prac-
tice. The teacher then directed us into the first pose which
I thought seemed simple enough. We were instructed
to notice our breath and any sensations present in our
bodies. “Great”, I thought to myself, “This is easy”. Then the
room went quiet. We were to hold that first pose for sev-
eral minutes.
It was agonizing to just be there, not moving, not doing
anything. There was nothing to distract me from myself.
My mind raced with worries and judgement while my
restless body ached. After what seemed like an eternity
the teacher gently reminded us to notice our breath and
to guide our attention back to the present moment. That
was all we had to do. Breath and stay present. Sounds easy
right? Not really.
The class continued at this snail-like place while I wres-
tled internally with my own mind. I didn’t enjoy my first
By Julia Breese
the VALUE of INNOCENCE
30 | STIGMA MAGAZINE
We offer private therapeutic yoga sessions to soothe your nervous system, reduce cravings and bring a greater sense of ease and comfort into your life.
Call 778-265-3916 for more information
GARUDA
YOGA
www.garudayoga.ca • 778.265.3916 • [email protected]
TRANSFORM YOUR LIFE WITH YOGA
yoga session at all but deep inside I knew there was an
important lesson here for me. My previous life pattern
had been to avoid or push away things that made me un-
comfortable. I had been a master at escaping, whether
that had been in the form of physically running away or
by taking some substance. Now I was being asked to stay,
even if staying was uncomfortable or scary. I returned to
these classes over and over again. As the classes became
easier for me my life also greatly improved. I stopped run-
ning away from myself. I became aware of my tendency to
constantly look for distraction or approval from others and
instead allowed myself to feel satisfaction from within. In
return, I started experiencing life with more authenticity
and humour than I ever had before. I started taking things
lightly.
Perhaps the most beauti-
ful thing about yoga as part
of my recovery process was that
I didn’t need to think about all the pain-
ful things that had led me into addiction.
I could heal without processing everything.
Yes, uncomfortable emotions bubbled to the surface but
I was instructed not to attach too much meaning or im-
portance to them. All I was asked to do was to relax and
feel my breath. As my thoughts and feelings came and
went and I started to see the up and down rhythms that
we all go through in life for what they are, temporary and
fleeting. It was very liberating.
Often when we are in recovery there is a lot of focus on
the problems that led us into substance abuse. Obviously
there can be great wisdom in learning from our mistakes.
But sometimes the best results in healing come when we
allow ourselves to pause, let go of blame, and fully expe-
rience what is present in the moment rather than spend
time worrying about fixing ourselves or finding solutions
for the inevitable challenges we all face in life. Yoga taught
me the value of innocence.
Julia Breese is a Yoga Therapist living in
the Victoria area. She specializes in teach-
ing yoga to those recovering from men-
tal health issues, addiction and trauma.
Learn more at www.garudayoga.ca
STIGMA MAGAZINE | 31
ADDICTION IMPACTS EVERY ASPECT OF life; the workplace in particular represents a unique source of “uber-stress” for most people experi-
encing addiction. For a lot of us, the workplace can be a competitive, demanding and unforgiving environment. On the positive side, it represents an outlet for creativity, a significant source of personal identity and justification of being, the source of revenue to maintain our status and standard of living. The workplace is often tolerant of – and in many cases
even promotes – the mantra of work hard, play hard as an almost twisted life balance; a perverted yin and a yang. This attitude can set up an onslaught of binge drinking/
using. When this progresses and spirals out of control, for those with the disease of addiction, it can be like trying to turn down the volume on the stereo when the volume con-trol is broken. There can be plenty of judgement heaped on these individuals, and they are often perceived as being weak and somehow morally deficient. Behind this danger-ous attitude is a distinct misunderstanding of the medical-ly supported disease model of addiction.Although addiction was recognized as a disease in the
1950s, many people continue to cling onto the miscon-ception or stigma that this disease is relegated to certain socioeconomic levels and does not affect “good families,” that somehow people in higher income brackets are “im-
YOUR EMPLOYEE FAMILY ASSISTANCE PROGRAM
A PLACE WHERE YOUR SECRETS SEE LIGHT
Wayne Steer and Stacey Petersen
32 | STIGMA MAGAZINE
mune.” The plain truth is that no one is immune to this disease.We interviewed five different professionals in recovery
who had successfully completed Fresh Start’s 12-16 week program were interviewed to get their take on what it’s like to be in active addiction in a “professional environ-ment.” Their professions included CA/comptroller, law-yer, MBA/systems analyst, wealth management specialist and a petroleum engineer.All five of these professionals share things in common:
they are well educated and come from two-parent homes where at least one parent has a university education, sta-ble job, home, car and family. According to many of the societal yardsticks, they grew up as members of “good families.”For most of the people we
spoke to, their use was con-fined to social settings at first, but soon became more frequent as time passed and was prac-ticed with or without company to reduce stress and cope with mounting pressures at work. As their usage increased, there
was also a corresponding and escalating fear of being “found out,” which led to a perceived need for them to hide their hab-it and isolate more. This cycle continued in a manner akin to a human tornado, where the employee experienced an ac-celerating downward spiral of isolation, loneliness, despair, and increasing use leading towards an inevitable crash.Jack, the CA/comptroller, said he decided to give his
company’s Employee Family Assistance Program (EFAP) a call and “test them” on an issue that was important but not threatening to deal with before approaching them about his addiction. He was apprehensive and skeptical about the process at first, but once he had set the wheels in motion he was amazed at their professionalism, timeliness in addressing his issue, level of knowledge and access to expert resources and - most of all - the degree of respect and confidentiality they offered.For the vast majority of those interviewed, their crash
came hard; their experiences ranged from being fired on
the spot, to being escorted out of the office with all their belongings through the gauntlet of coworkers to getting “The Call” at home. None of these experiences were easy and all could have had happier endings — or happier middles. Because of his positive experience with his company’s
EFAP program, Jack built up the courage to make the one call that he had been leading up to and dreading —the “Big One.” After 14 years of struggle, he called his EFAP program to finally get help.Jack says it was the best thing he ever did; he told us the
level and quality of service, compassion and confidential-ity he received from the EFAP program was a welcomed surprise. They helped him find a recovery program at Fresh Start which began his process for long-term recov-
ery. Today, Jack is a highly re-sponsible professional working as a CA/comptroller in a very demanding environment; he will be celebrating five years of sobriety before Canada Day.While all five have had differ-
ent paths to their recovery, all are experiencing a much better quality of life through their re-covery collectively living with 20 years of continuous recovery experience.From a practical standpoint,
some of the best advice we’ve heard as staff members at Fresh Start is that “If you’re strug-gling with alcohol or drugs and
your company has an EFAP program, CALL THEM; they are there to help you stop the madness. They will help you find the right program so you can heal and make life better for you and all around you.” No one is immune to the disease of addiction and if you
are struggling, please use the resources available to you to find the help that is available to you through your EFAP program; it just might save your life.
Wayne Steer and Stacey Petersen are part of the team at the Fresh Start Recovery Centre, a national award-winning organ-ization located in Calgary, Alberta that provides housing, treat-ment and support for people affected by addiction. Fresh Start helps people from a wide variety of backgrounds and vocations.
STIGMA MAGAZINE | 33
FROM OUR HUMBLE BEGINNINGS IN 1971 as a sim-
ple halfway house to today’s state-of-the-art cam-
puses having served in excess of 25,000 men and
4,000 women and children, Kinghaven Peardonville
House Society prides itself on being one of the most suc-
cessful, progressive and innovative treatment centres in
Canada.
It all started in 1970, when a small group of men living
in the Abbotsford/Matsqui area of the Fraser Valley rec-
ognized the need for a residential facility devoted to men
suffering from chronic alcoholism. This group, made up
of business people, the medical professionals and mem-
bers of the Alcoholics Anonymous community, knew
many of these men would sober up for short periods of
time but would soon return to heavy, addictive drinking.
The problem, they felt, was that the men were never giv-
en a sufficient period of time in which to address their
alcoholism, drinking patterns and issues created by their
excessive drinking such as job loss, marital stress and
breakdown, and impaired-driving charges. The goal of
45 YEARS OF RECOVERYTHE STORY OF KINGHAVEN PEARDONVILLE HOUSE SOCIETY
Milt Walker
34 | STIGMA MAGAZINE
this group was to establish a residential facility, based
on the 12-Steps and Traditions of Alcoholics Anonymous,
that would allow adult men who self-identified as alco-
holics a safe place to address the myriad of challenges
their addiction created. Thus the MSA Halfway House
Society was established and 32-bed Kinghaven Halfway
House opened on May 11th, 1971 on the site of the former
Bethel Bible College.
A number of changes have occurred over the years
and many additional services have been added to the
organization’s repertoire of resources. For example, a ma-
jor building project was undertaken in 1981 due to the
increasing demand for services, including the need for
treatment related to marijuana and other drugs. King-
haven expanded to 52 beds, adding a new residential
building, a counselling office and a large kitchen/dining
hall, thus evolving from a halfway house to a full-service,
intensive residential treatment facility with the abili-
ty to serve and meet the recovery needs of adult men
suffering from alcoholism and/or addiction to any other
mood-altering substances. More staff was added and a
more intense, therapeutic program developed in order
to address the increasingly complex issues clients were
now presenting with.
In 1987, the board of director’s recognized that services
for women with addiction issues were seriously lacking.
The board purchased and renovated the former Peardon-
ville House Elementary School property, and the 18-bed
Peardonville House Treatment Centre, a residential ser-
vice for adult women, was opened, with the organization
changing its name to Valley Recovery Support Associa-
tion. While this program enjoyed overwhelming success,
it also identified a serious lack of services for women who
had young children and were unable to afford childcare.
The then-Ministry of Health Services asked Peardonville
House to pilot a “Moms and Kids” program, the first of
its kind in Canada, that allowed women to bring their
under-school-age children to residential treatment to
share in the recovery process. What makes this program
so unique is the fact that while Mom is in treatment; her
children are cared for in a fully licensed, on-site child-
care centre. The program was so successful that the fa-
cility’s older buildings were no longer meeting the or-
ganization’s expanding needs and the society launched
STIGMA MAGAZINE | 35
WWW. KINGHAVEN.CA WWW.PEARDONVILLEHOUSE.CA
KINGHAVENA full-service, intensive residential treatment facility with the ability
to serve and meet the recovery needs of adult men.
PEARDONVILLEA fl agship residential treatment facility for adult women who want
to stop the cycle of substance misuse in their life.
~ Facilities located in a tranquil, rural setting ~~ 5-week employment readiness program for qualified applicants ~
~ Second Stage Housing for clients transitioning to independent living ~~ All programs delivered by highly skilled and credentialed staff ~
~ “Moms and Kids” program for women in recovery ~~ Clients on Methadone welcome ~
C A N A D A’ S L E A D E R I N P R O G R E S S I V E A N D I N N O VAT I V E R E C O V E R Y P R O G R A M S
a fundraising campaign to replace
the existing facility with new, larger
buildings. The target was reached
in 1998, and on June 28th 2002 the
new Peardonville House was opened
to serve the needs of 20 adult wom-
en and eight children. This program
is now considered by many to be the
flagship of residential treatment for
women in the province.
In 2007, the Fraser Health Author-
ity recognized the need for less in-
tensive programming for men and
women presenting with both men-
tal health and addiction issues. This
resulted in the development of the
Stabilization and Transitional Living
Residence (STLR) programs being
added to both the Kinghaven and
Peardonville sites. These six-bed res-
idences (Valley House at Kinghaven
and Mollie’s Place at Peardonville
House) offer longer-term program
stays to allow clients to stabilize be-
fore to transitioning to more full-time
housing. With the addition of these
two programs, Kinghaven Peardon-
ville House Society now had the re-
sources to serve 92 men, women and
children at any one time.
The ever-innovative and progres-
sive board and staff began to recog-
nize that a serious gap in long-term
treatment services was very evident,
in that there were very few plac-
es for clients to transition to once
treatment was complete. Plans were
made to add a second-stage housing
building to the Kinghaven site and
to replace two of the existing build-
ings that had served their purpose
well for 43 years. This was to become
the George Schmidt Centre, a sec-
ond-stage housing complex for men.
It was completed in 2013 at a cost of
$6.5 million; the following year, the
former administration building and
a residence were replaced by a $3.5
million state-of-the-art facility that
houses 62 residents. This brought the
combined compliment of clients “in
residence” at any one time to 133.
New facilities demanded new and
more creative programming. As a re-
sult, and thanks to a $1 million grant
from the BC Ministry of Health, the
five-week Employment Readiness
Program was initiated. Designed to
accommodate those clients wish-
ing to improve their employability
following treatment, this program is
now an integral part of our 70-day
Intensive Treatment Model. Reinte-
gration into the community as pro-
36 | STIGMA MAGAZINE
ductive, employable citizens should be the goal of those
enrolled in this part of our program. Some of the topics
addressed in the program include literacy and comput-
er skills training, job-search strategies, relapse prevention
and working with First Nations elders and people from
the BC Centre for Disabilities.
Looking back on the past 45 years that Kinghaven Pear-
donville House Society has been operating, it’s amazing
to see what a group of people who recognized a need in
the community were able to accomplish.
Milt Walker first arrived at Kinghaven in 1983 as a res-
ident seeking treatment for his alcoholism. After com-
pleting the initial thirty-five day program, he was asked
to stay on as a volunteer answering the phones at the
front desk. In 1984, Milt gained full-time employment as
the cook of the facility. Milt then returned to college and
acquired a Substance Abuse Certificate and became a
counselor.
After being appointed as the Deputy Executive Direc-
tor, he became the Executive Director in 2000 and he
continues to hold that position today.
Sooke Therapeutic Yoga Society offers free
Health & Wellness programs to assist those
dealing with cancer, trauma issues, addic-
tions, etc., as well as offering yoga for kids
and teens. The Society also offers prenatal
yoga and noon-time yoga by donation. To
attend these sessions or learn more please
call 250.642.9642
Sooke Therapeutic Yoga Society
250.642.9642www.sookeyoga.com
STIGMA MAGAZINE | 37
DISCOVERY YOUTH AND FAMILY SERVICES (Discovery) is an Island Health program de-signed to assist youth and/or their families re-
duce the harms associated with substance use. The ser-vices are free and available to anyone in the community who is negatively impacted by substance use, whether their own or someone else’s. “We work with youth ages 13 to 19 but these ages have
‘soft edges’ depending on the circumstances,” says Maia Sladde. “We’ll help older youth transition to adult servic-es, supporting them until they get the hang of it, and we also work with younger youth in need.”Sladde is an intake counsellor at the Nanaimo Discovery
office. Like all of the counsellors at Discovery, she loves her work and is passionate about supporting youth. “We provide drug and alcohol services for youth which might range from those who are curious and want to try it, those who have been suspended from school for substance use to youth who are daily users.”In addition to counselling and support, Discovery has
access to many services across the Island including sta-bilization and detox services and can connect youth and families depending on their goals. Counsellors make
assessments holistically by looking at the whole person – biological, psychological, social, spiritual—in order to understand, not only what their client needs, but what they want. “We work with youth to meet their goals,” says Slad-
de. “And that means gaining an understanding of their circumstances including their family, their history, past trauma, living situations in order to address what they want to achieve.”Discovery works with the youth’s team which might in-
clude their family, social workers or just the youth alone. There is a focus on family, and Discovery’s philosophy is to be open to whatever family means to them. Confiden-tiality is absolutely guaranteed and trust is the basis for relationships between counsellors and youth.Philosophically, Discovery counsellors approach their
work from a strength-based and relationship perspective. This approach builds on their client’s strengths while committing to strong, trusting relationships between counsellor and client.“We are always hopeful and offer strong validation for
our clients,” says Sladde. “We make sure that youth un-derstand that it’s not about blame, instead our approach
Susan Evans
HELPING YOUTH WITH SUBSTANCE USE ISSUES
38 | STIGMA MAGAZINE
is to be curious. ‘Where are you sitting in your skin right now that this makes sense? Maybe if I understood that, I could offer something that could help you.’ We work hard to make sure that youth are comfortable and feel able to share. It can take time until they feel safe and trust enough to do that.”Up to one-third of the case load at Discovery is parents.
Sometimes their son or daughter isn’t interested in get-ting involved but parents can access the services and by helping themselves, they can often help their youth.“Parents are their son or daughter’s greatest resource,”
says Sladde. “So even working just with parents can help their youth, and often that same youth will participate later.”Some parents need help understanding what is going on
for their youth. Learning about adolescent development – what is normal and natural for teens – can help them look for a new approach. “This is a service to support what parents are already
doing and our job is to come alongside them, but we are not here to ‘fix’ their child, says Sladde. “For parents, we can offer some perspective and perhaps insight into how to do things differently. We let them know they are not alone, that it’s OK to talk about it and be supported and heard.”In addition to counselling, Discovery offers a number of
resources for parents including groups, workshops and a program called Recognizing Resilience: for parents and caregivers of teens using substances.“There is a spectrum of substance use from experimen-
tation to dependence,” says Sladde. “Even if they get into
trouble, youth are so resilient they can turn it around quickly, with support.”What turns them around? “I would say that when a youth is feeling supported
and not judged, when they are able to practise their inde-pendence in how they get better instead of just being told what to do, there is a lot of power in that,” says Sladde. “When they are made a part of their own plan they can do amazing things.”At Discovery, counsellors work with clients at their
pace. They move as fast or as slow as the client wants and will meet them where they are comfortable, which might be away from the office in a coffee shop or mall. “We are a harm reduction service and can engage with
youth regardless of where they are at with their substance use,” says Sladde. “Their goal might not be to get clean, it might be to reduce their usage, to get back on track, to use less, or not use certain substances. It might be to get a job or somewhere to live. We support their overall well-ness, which might include help with housing or getting them to a doctor. We are here to provide support but only when they want to take it.”Discovery Youth and Family Services has offices across
Vancouver Island (see sidebar following). Youth or fam-ily don’t need a referral, just call the nearest location for more information and to connect with someone.“Problems love silence,” says Sladde. “The best way to
get to a better place is to start talking about it.”Article reprinted with permission from Island Health maga-
zine.
DISCOVERY YOUTH AND FAMILY SERVICES Victoria/South Island
530 Fraser Street, 2nd Floor
Tel: 250-519-5313
Cowichan Valley Area
103 - 360 Duncan Street
Tel: 250-737-2029
Ladysmith
1111 – 4th Avenue
Tel: 250-739-5790
Nanaimo
206 – 96 Cavan Street
Tel: 250-739-5790
Parksville/Qualicum
494 Bay Avenue,
Tel: 250-947-8215
West Coast
272 Main Street
Ucluelet, BC Tel: 250-266-1565
Mt Waddington
7305 Market Street
Port Hardy, BC V0N 2P0
Tel: 250-902-6063
For more information on Island
Health’s Youth and Substance Use
program, visit www.viha.ca.
STIGMA MAGAZINE | 39
40 | STIGMA MAGAZINE