Welcome
We’re happy you found us.
We have been busy relaunching Faith Partners as an independent nonprofit. With this new website we want to reassure you we are moving forward, committed to continuing our work of initiating, nurturing and sustaining the faith community’s efforts to address alcohol, drug, and addiction issues.
For five years we collaborated with the Johnson Institute, functioning as the Rush Center of Johnson Institute. During those years we hosted a national summit and expanded our efforts. We are grateful we had this opportunity. And when the Johnson Institute closed their doors the end of February we knew we wanted to continue this important work. So our trademark name for our teams – Faith Partners teams – became our organization’s name again. Our location didn’t change, though – we are still in Austin, Texas, where the teams began over 20 years ago.
It is a challenging yet exciting time for us.
This year we received a grant from the Center on Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP) to enhance our evaluation capacity. We are working with wonderful colleagues – friends from the University of Texas School of Social Work and staff from the Gulf Coast Addiction Technology Transfer Center (ATTC) to carry out this effort. Our hope is to become an evidenced based environmental strategy. Thanks to our teams for their dedication to this process, particularly the scheduling of a second congregational survey.
Other exciting things are happening.
We recently participated in a webinar with our friends and colleagues from Harford County, MD, Faith-Based Coalition, thanks to Michael Koscinski from SAMHSA. It was a new and good experience for us, using this method to reach others interested in faith community involvement with coalitions. We’ve posted that online here under the topic, Awareness. We will also make a presentation at the mid year CADCA conference in Louisville this summer.
Our work is cut out for us.
The faith community has an important role to play in prevention and addiction recovery support. Congregations who have connected to community resources including community coalitions are in a better position to help the people they serve find the resources and services they need. Clergy are aware, lay people come with expertise and life experience and with training and support we can mobilize the religious community to be a big part of the solution to this challenging problem.
Lastly, we want to thank KD & Company for their generous technical assistance and support, under the direction of Rick Drewien. Thanks to Rick, facilitator for the Mt Zion United Methodist Church Faith Partners team in Marietta, GA, for all that he has done to help us launch this website. Rick has provided important leadership for his team and this site would not be possible without the many hours of expertise he has given us out of his passion for this ministry.
Take your time reading through this site and learn what others are doing. It is not only possible but many of our teams are making a big difference. Won’t you let us know what you are doing and how we might support you?
Hope for Recovery
“Hope for Recovery” is the name that our team at St. Alban’s chose for itself. It’s the perfect name: it reflects what we’re all about, and it does so in three succinct words. But those three succinct words are not the most important three words in the sentence. The words chose for itself are. Because while choosing a name may seem like an insignificant detail, it reflects a highly significant and much larger reality: that the life of this ministry has been-and continues to be–developed and shaped by its lay members, not me!
When I was called to St Alban’s six years ago as a newly ordained priest with seven years in recovery, I had already made the very personal decision that wherever I served, I knew recovery would be an important part of my ministry, and I wanted folks to feel safe coming to me for help. But I had no idea then just how many families are touched by substance abuse issues! Before long I found myself wishing I has time to put together a team of parishioners to start a substance abuse ministry, so I’d have others I could refer folks to for help. Occasionally I’d refer someone to one of the parishioners I knew from “the rooms” of AA. And fortunately, because of St. Alban’s long history of hospitality to 12-step programs, there were a lot of those parishioners-folks who came here for the meetings in the basement first, then gradually discovered the services in the church upstairs!
When I heard about Faith Partners it was prayer answered. I took the Leadership Training, then identified potential team members in our congregation and invited them to watch the Faith Partners video with me after church. Before the screening, I made it clear that coming to see the video was about exploring the ministry, not committing to it; after the screening, I made it clear this ministry called for lay leadership, for which training would be provided.
The response to the video was so positive, all I had to do was make arrangements for those committed to doing the Team Member Training with me. I can’t describe how valuable that training was! It gave us the confidence and energy to launch this ministry and fabulous materials with instructions on every aspect of introducing, developing and sustaining it.
Two members serve as co-chairs, another is our publications person, yet another is our community resource person, and we all attend our monthly brainstorming meetings. My particular usefulness as a team member is as a liaison-after all, I’ve got the “best” contacts with the church! So as a team member I advocate with church staff on behalf of Hope for Recovery events, newsletter articles, and other ways of making this ministry visible; and as a member of the clergy, I make referrals to the team, provide pastoral support, and give it its “St. Alban’s Stamp of Approval” in the eyes of the congregation. But most important of all, I take advantage of opportunities like this to thank our team for the amazing grace, dedication, creativity and passion they bring to this ministry.
Thank you Hope for Recovery!
Rev. Margot D Critchfield,
St. Alban’s Episcopal Church, Washington DC
Photo Credit: Patrick Smith Photography via Flickr
Alcohol, drug addiction a “hole in the soul”
Guest Author: Kristen Browning-Blah The Denver Post
The name might sound familiar: Moyers. Maybe you’ve heard of William C. Moyers, author of “Broken,” a memoir of addiction. Or you know his dad, Bill, from his long career as a journalist and his current PBS program, “Bill Moyers Journal.”
The family went public with Moyers’ crack addiction and recovery in 1998 with a five-part PBS series, “Moyers on Addiction: Close to Home.” “Broken” came out in 2006.
After a 15-year career in journalism and four stints in rehab, including time at the Hazelden treatment center in Minnesota, Moyers is now executive director of its Center for Public Advocacy. Moyers has three children — Henry, 16, Thomas, 15, and Nancy, 12 — and lives in in St. Paul, Minn.
Thursday evening, he will emcee an event with singer Judy Collins, celebrating the 25th anniversary of Peer Assistance Services, a Denver nonprofit dedicated to substance-abuse prevention and intervention.
The folk singer has struggled with depression, alcoholism and the suicide of her only son, Clark Taylor, who crossed recovery paths with Moyers in St. Paul before he died in 1992.
Because April is Alcohol Awareness Month, we spoke to Moyers about his journey through addiction and into recovery.
Q: If you think you might drink too much, does that mean you are an alcoholic?
A: It doesn’t mean you’re an alcoholic, but it means you are pondering issues that most people don’t ponder.
Q: Are drugs different than alcohol?
A: No, I think a drug is a drug is a drug. The only difference is alcohol is legal.
Q:There’s some debate about whether alcoholism is a disease or a “condition.” What do you think?
A: It is a disease that has a volitional component to it. Nobody made me smoke marijuana, but I did not will myself into addiction. I believe I was set up to become an addict long before I did those things, and they turned on a light switch in my brain.
Q: There’s so much alcohol in pop culture. How do you fight that influence?
A: We fight Madison Avenue with honest and accurate information. The way we answer the beer man is by explaining to the next generation that alcohol is a drug that, when used responsibly, can enhance a setting. There’s nothing wrong with responsible drinking as long as you’re 21 or over. But, it is a drug that changes the mood and the mind.
Q:You published a journal and DVD, “A New Day, A New Life,” for people in early recovery. How has writing in a journal helped you?
A: Journaling can be very therapeutic. Addiction is fundamentally an illness of the brain, but it’s also a disease of the body and the spirit. I think of it as a hole in the soul. You have to address those things that ail your spirit.
Q: What advice do you have for parents with teens who are struggling with addiction? And what do you say to parents who wonder if they should be honest about their own past?
A: Hate the illness but love your child. Tell your children the truth. And tell them the longer you can wait before you experiment the better chance you have to grow up to be a resilient person.
Q: How do you talk to your own children about your addiction?
A: Because they are the product of two alcoholics, they are 10 to 20 times more likely to become alcoholic themselves. But no matter what I do there’s nothing I can do that can ultimately stop them from experimenting. I’ve talked to my children about my own experiences as a way to warn them if they choose to use, they might not be able to choose the outcome. I tell them if that outcome is not good, it is OK to ask for help.
Q: As you speak around the country, do you hear a lot of confessions?
A: Every single day. I’ve had judges and lawyers and doctors and police officers and Joe Blows come up to me and whisper, “I’m also in recovery.” I’m still addicted — I just happen to be in remission. I have to continue to take my “insulin” by recovering, going to meetings, praying to God. Who could ever imagine that I could go from a crack house in Atlanta to working for a renowned treatment center? I’m still on the journey, and it’s happening despite me, despite my best-laid plans.
Kristen Browning-Blas: 303-954-1440 or kbrowning@denverpost.com
Love God with all your heart
Guest Author: Mary Boone, Austin TX
As an interventionist, I have opportunity to reflect on ways in which the illness of addiction robs one of the ability to truly love. Rather than supporting intimacy, commitment, and unconditional warm regard in a family or amongst friends, it promotes distance, broken promises, and ill will. Rather than leading persons to their God, it sets up false gods.
As addiction of any type progresses in families, the Rule of don’t trust; don’t talk; and don’t feel gradually takes over and governs relationships. When life is painful and coping involves addiction to substances or behaviors, a family becomes dysfunctional. Trust is absent because honesty with self and others is absent. Talk is absent because walls of protection surround persons in an effort to avoid facing the truth. Feeling is absent because no one can afford to feel the pain. Relationships become superficial and persons rely on externals for an artificial sense of comfort and security – a false feel-good.
On the other hand, I also have the opportunity to witness the miracle of recovery. The illness of addiction can be a gift that, in recovery, fosters strong relationships, authenticity, and acceptance. It can become the path to loving God with all one’s heart, to healing that makes loving oneself possible, and to compassion and outreach to others.
A Team knowledgeable about supporting persons or family members at critical times and referring them to resources can play an important role in whether the addictive process is interrupted or not. Intervention is any effort that interrupts the progression of addiction and initiates change and healing. Intervention can happen in many ways. Often it is in the form of not rescuing persons from the negative consequences of their behavior and helping them to view the consequence as opportunity to initiate recovery. For many family members, this concept runs counter to what is familiar and feels “un-Christian.” They are in need of education and support.
As I conclude this reflection, I am reminded of an older gentleman in his late seventies whose family developed the courage to talk to him about the effect his drinking had on their lives. As a result, he entered a treatment program. After several months of recovery, he said to me, “I wish my family had talked to me sooner. How different our lives could have been.” Perhaps if a faith community had delivered the message….
Many times I have wondered how it is that some find recovery and many others don’t. I think the difference lies in the support structures that may or may not be present. Core beliefs and values that have developed over time predispose persons to growth in recovery or to continued self-destruction. If helpful support structures that reinforce openness to growth are available early, persons have a much greater opportunity to “grab on” to recovery. Faith communities are definitely one of those support structures.
Faith communities have an essential role to play in finding that path and facilitating the Great Commandment. However, faith communities, which are made up of families, are at risk of adopting the Rule of the dysfunctional families that allows addiction to grow unless there is a commitment made to honesty, open-mindedness, and willingness – the Rule of recovery and healthy functioning. Honesty with self and others cuts through the deception necessary to sustain addiction. Open-mindedness creates an atmosphere in which new information can be incorporated and one’s thinking can change for the better. Willingness is the ingredient necessary to overcome fear and change behavior.
How might faith communities implement such a mission? Creating a Team that is equipped with the necessary tools, such as non-judgmental attitude, understanding, information, and knowledge of resources,, is an important first step. Simply having such a structure in the community goes a long way towards establishing an environment in which addictive behaviors can be addressed openly and without judgment. It will result in greater awareness and persons will not be seduced so easily by the “false feel-goods.”
The Team has an essential role in prevention of addiction and in intervention to stop its progression. Prevention can be viewed as an effort to discourage engaging substance or behavioral addiction by modeling and teaching alternative ways of handling life’s inevitable pain. Prevention can also be viewed as an effort to minimize the damage of addiction in early, middle, or late stages and stop the progression by creating an atmosphere where persons trust one another enough to talk honestly about difficulties and share their feelings.
The team can implement strategies that convey the message, “It is ok to talk about it here.” Concerned family members may be empowered to come forward for support and information. More often than not, it is family members who seek help first. Changed attitudes and behaviors on their part often motivate the addicted persons to seek help.
Photo Credit: pedrosimoes7 via Flickr
A Family Affair
Recovery: A Family Affair
April 9, 2009 by Emily Battaglia
As part of Alcohol Awareness Month in April, the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is promoting the message that recovery is a family affair. According to SAMHSA, over half of all adults in the United States have a family history of alcoholism or problem drinking. SAMHSA is striving to inform all Americans that alcoholism is a preventable and treatable disease, and that individuals in a family where alcoholism exists need to receive help, too.
Family dynamics often play a role in the development and facilitation of addictive behaviors. In order for an addict to recover, those closest to him must also re-examine family interactions, habits, and roles to discover destructive, detrimental, or self-defeating behaviors. Although all families have unique dynamics, and it is normal for family members to take on certain roles, addiction heightens the intensity of dysfunction in a family and tends to bring out certain types of roles and interactions within a family.
The addict: Addiction is a complex phenomenon, but usually indicates a fundamental inability to cope. As addiction grows, the addict unbalances the family by becoming the center of the family’s energy and attention. Other family members shift roles to compensate for the imbalance. Although recovery for the addict is the focus, recovery for other family members is no less important to the healthy functioning of the family.
The hero:Usually one person in the family will begin to focus on appearances as a way to cope. He will ignore obvious signs of addiction and strive to make the family and family members look good in spite of one member’s problem. He ignores the dysfunctional interactions of family members and insists that things are fine. This person is dealing with underlying feelings of fear, guilt, and shame.
The mascot: This person is the family jester and copes with the situation by refusing to take it seriously. She will use humor to distract herself and others, and to avoid confronting the reality of addiction. This person’s role can hinder other family members’ attempts to recover. This person feels embarrassment, shame, and anger.
The lost child: The lost child withdraws from the family and surrenders personal needs in favor of avoiding any discussion of addiction or recovery. This person is lonely, angry, guilty, and neglected.
The scapegoat: This person tends to act out, rebel, and work to draw attention away from the addicted individual and any efforts at recovery. The scapegoat prefers distraction. This person often feels empty, shameful, and guilty.
The caretaker: The counterbalance to the addict is almost always a caretaker. This person facilitates the addict’s destructive behaviors, often out of misguided attempts to love or care for him. This person also facilitates the dysfunctional behaviors of other family members. She strives to keep everyone “happy” and make excuses for all behaviors. This person often feels inadequate, fearful, and helpless.
For the family to recover, each member must reclaim healthy roles and priorities. In the dysfunctional family, the addiction of one member takes precedence over all other matters, members refuse to recognize the addiction as a source of problems, blame is used to deflect responsibility, and communication is either nonexistent or detrimental.
In a healthy family system, self-worth is high for all members; communication is direct, clear, and honest and allows the expression of feelings; family rules are appropriate and flexible; and each person has separate goals and plans but is supported by the family in achieving them.
