addiction group for women in early recovery, used in programs for women looking to better their lives and family relationships

2. Sit quietly for a minute or two,
and focus on where we are now.

3. Quiet Time
Check- in
Exploring personal relationship with
substances
What does a healthy relationship with
a substance look like?
The Continuum - What does an
unhealthy relationship with
substance look like?
Where is YOUR line? – discussion

4.  Name
 Feeling
 Last use
 12-step meetings? What happened?
 Who attended a meeting?
 If you did not attend a meeting
 • Did you think about it?
 • What prevented your attendance?
 • What can you do differently this week?
 Success with last week’s recovery tool?
(binders)

5.  To understand that our
relationships with alcohol and
other drugs progress along a
continuum.
To personalize and classify our
own relationships with various
substances

6. of a Healthy
Relationship with a Drug

7. Knowledge
Benefits
No negative “side effects”
Freedom to choose

8.  Recognition that the substance you
are using is a drug and awareness
of what it does to your body
Examples of drugs that people don’t
realize they are using
Read info from pharmacy?

9. Experience of a useful effect
of the drug over time.

10.  To treat disease
 To alter moods
 To escape boredom and despair
 To promote and enhance social interaction
 To enhance sensory experience and pleasure
 To stimulate artistic creativity and performance
 To improve physical performance
 To rebel
 To go along with peer pressure
 To aid religious practices
 To explore the self
 To establish an identity

11.  Freedom from adverse effects on health or behavior
Possible effects
 Uncertainty of Dose and Quality
 Mixing Drugs
 Medical Problems
 • Acute problems (i.e. overdosing & allergic reactions;
injuries)
 • Chronic problems (i.e. irritate & damage body
systems; lifestyle can influence self-care like diet, sleep,
hygiene & exercise)
 • Pregnancy complications
 • Misdiagnoses due to drugs changing or masking
symptoms
 • Drug induced/aggravated psychiatric disorders

12.  Social and Behavioral Problems
 Relational
 Altered Inhibitions
 Diminished Ability to Process Social Cues
 Distortion of Emotional Experience
 Family
 Employment
 School
 • Life Threatening Social Situations
 Developmental Problems
 Impaired mental development
 Impaired emotional development
 Impaired physical development
 Legal Problems
 DWI
 Assault & Domestic Violence
 Possession & Distribution
 Dependency & Addiction
 Physiological
 Psychological
 Limits Personal Freedom!

13.  Ease of separation from the use of
the drug.
 Withdrawal
 • Psychological or Physical
 • The Substitution Syndrome
 Tolerance
• More of the same drug for benefit
• Stronger drug for benefit

14. Add relationship with drugs hand
out one way and 2 way street.

16.  Where are you in your relationship
with your drug of choice?
If you think you are still on a two-way
street, does your relationship meet all
our criteria of a healthy relationship?
Have you passed the point of no
return?