Help for Families Dealing with Addiction

As more and more families in Massachusetts must face the harrowing effects of heroin and other types of addiction, Advocates is is pleased to offer them education and support at a public forum in Natick with Judith Landau, MD, a nationally recognized leader in the field. We've teamed up with SSTAR and the Department of Public Health’s Bureau of Substance Abuse Services (MDPH-BSAS) to present Addiction and the Family: How Families Can Help on Wednesday, April 8, 2015 from 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm at the Boston/Natick Hampton Inn on 319 Speen Street, Natick, MA.

According to data from the Department of Public Health, from 2000 to 2013 Middlesex County saw over 1400 opioid overdose deaths making it the leading county in deaths resulting from overdoses. In a press release from the Governor’s office in February, Governor Baker announced the establishment of an “Opioid Addiction Working Group tasked with formulating a statewide strategy to combat addiction.” In that press conference, Secretary of Health and Human Services, Marylou Sudders stated, “The best tool we have in this fight against opioid addiction is information.”

Dr. Landau will speak to Middlesex families on Addiction and the Family: How Families Can Help. She is an internationally recognized expert on addiction and families. She consults with the United Nations, the World Health Organization, public health officials of governments around the world, and US government agencies such as the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. She is a child, family, and community neuro-psychiatrist. Dr. Landau is the co-developer of the ARISE model of family intervention. ARISE is the model implemented by SSTAR’s Family Intervention Program.

Advocates and SSTAR are hosting a public forum because, like Dr. Landau, we believe strongly that families are a powerful resource in helping addicted individuals recover. Her approach to intervention is based on a belief that families are inherently healthy, competent, and resilient. These characteristics can be mobilized to influence their addicted loved one and support their recovery.

Information about the disease of addiction is critical to family effectiveness in this situation and Dr. Landau’s presentation will equip participants with valuable tools. SSTAR Family Interventionists and Advocates staff will be available to talk with forum participants about treatment resources

For more information, visit our event page.