4-Hour ITC Workshop
for Families and Loved Ones
Join us for an Invitation to Change workshop and learn a different approach to substance use. In collaboration with Railroad Street youth Project.
When
October 19 2024
9am - 1pm ET
Where
Great Barrington, MA
Exact location TBD
Who
Families and loved ones of those struggling with substances
Cost
Free
ITC Certification
None
Continuing Edu.
None
Description
Join us for 4 hours of training in the Invitation to Change Approach, a set of support tools for anyone helping a person who uses substances.
Based in science and kindness, the Invitation to Change (ITC) is a set of down to earth, compassionate techniques for helping your loved one while staying connected to and grounded in your own values. It can help you:
- Untangle substance use
- Improve communication
- Build trust
- Maintain healthy boundaries
- Restore connection
+++
“I was very fortunate to come across CMC’s Invitation to Change, and to be able to take some workshops with them. I loved that this new approach fit with my values of compassion and kindness, and it helped me understand, from a deeper perspective, the whole picture…Our kids deserve for us to show up, and now I have learned a way to do that.”
– Antoinette, Parent and Advocate
The Invitation to Change Approach is grounded in compassion, connection, and the understanding that families can have a powerful helping impact on those struggling to change. The ITC Approach draws on evidence-based practices also found in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Motivational Interviewing (MI), and the Community Reinforcement and Family Training approach (CRAFT), as well as decades of clinical experience working with families and loved ones.
Built on the three pillars of Understanding, Awareness, and Action, the ITC first illuminates new perspectives on substance use and the process of change; next, it creates a foundation of self-awareness and willingness to engage with emotional pain. Finally, it emphasizes action, teaching communication and behavior skills to promote and support new behaviors in a person struggling with substance use.
This ITC workshop will give you useful evidence-based ways to understand your loved one’s behavior, so that you can use motivational and behavioral strategies to improve communication and promote change. You will learn skills to:
• Lessen the tension, conflict, and heated emotion in your relationship and household
• Allow yourself to be part of the change process and be taken care of on this journey
• Talk to your loved one in ways that improve collaboration and encourage change
• Respond more effectively both to the positive changes your loved one makes and to their less positive behaviors, while letting natural consequences play a role in motivating change
The ITC can help you take care of yourself while simultaneously staying engaged and practicing active strategies to invite and encourage change in your loved one, in yourself, in your family—and, if you’re inspired to share it, in your larger community.
Trainers
He is co-author of the award-winning book Beyond Addiction: How Science and Kindness Help People Change, a practical guide for families dealing with addiction and substance problems in a loved one, based on principles of Community Reinforcement and Family Training (CRAFT). He is also a contributor to two workbooks combining strategies from CRAFT and Motivational Interviewing: The Parent’s 20 Minute Guide and The Partner’s 20 Minute Guide, which offer specific tools and practice in evidence-based strategies for helping a loved one change.
Meg Murray is the Executive Director for CMC:Foundation for Change. She received her B.S. in Journalism from Boston University. Prior to coming to CMC:Foundation for Change, Meg spent three years at CMC:Berkshires, a residential treatment center. She is excited to be shifting her focus to the millions of families who are affected by addiction. She draws from her experience working alongside clients in treatment, as well as her own experience helping her family navigate a loved one through recovery. Meg brings passion and a drive to effect change by empowering parents and other family members who stand by their loved one’s side. Her work includes: coordination of all administrative functions related to CMC:Foundation for Change, active support for the CEOs and Training Director in the development of trainings, training protocols and logistics, and managing the interface between the Foundation and all funders, donors, governmental agencies, board members and the general public.
