"Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadows." Hellen Keller
"As someone who has grown up in a family with a history of substance use disorder," says Deborah, "I know firsthand the struggles and pain that parent's and family members go through when dealing with this disease."
We feel that there is no one to talk to. We don't want to burden our friends especially if they have no first hand knowledge of the situation and guilt and shame can keep us isolated from interacting with others.
Families need guidance about how to help their child who is using substances or engaging in other risky behaviors.
They also need guidance on how to survive themselves when they see their child or loved one struggling in self destructive ways.
As a Parent Coach with the Parent Support Network of The Partnership For Drug Free Kids, Deborah has been trained in a scientifically proven set of tools and strategies called CRAFT(Community Reinforcement and Family Training ). Developed by Robert Myers at the University of New Mexico, the CRAFT approach targets motivation and behavior to help parent's, your child and the whole family. Substance usage in your loved one can reduce or stop and their willingness to get help can increase.
Combined with Deborah's whole-person coaching, CRAFT teaches how to stay involved in a positive, ongoing way through communication skills, healthy reactions, effective co-parenting, and good self- care.
Working with a parent coach helps you and your family develop skills for resilience while also providing a safe and supportive space for expressing the hopes, fears and frustrations we have for our loved one.
Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in.
--Leonard Cohen