Hope and Help for Families: A New Approach to Substance Use

If you love someone who is misusing substances, it is likely that you want to help, and that you want things to change – but feel incredibly overwhelmed, angry, scared, or confused about where to start. You may have been told to detach, use “tough love,” or work on your “codependency” confusing messages that can make you feel like you are the problem. 

But the reality is: 

You can be a part of your loved one’s life, and you can have a positive impact. You can support them in a way that will help them change. 

The Invitation to Change Approach® (ITC) challenges those stigmatizing, ineffective messages about substance use that are so prevalent. They bring evidence-based ideas together with kindness, so that you can support your loved one in a way that is genuinely helpful and feels right. They also help you bring self-compassion and care to yourself in the process, because they know you need it to sustain you through these difficult times. 

ITC workshops provide useful 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 also help you take care of yourself while 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. 

ITC events range from short overviews to 16-hour workshops (virtual and in-person) that take place over 2 full days or several weeks. They use discussion, lecture, and experiential exercises to help you learn and practice the ITC, creating an experience that is emotionally powerful and engaging. 

Content adapted from the CMC Foundation for Change’s Invitation to Change Approach®. For more information and resources, visit https://cmcffc.org/trainings-hub/families. 

If you are looking for support around a loved one who uses substances, we have counselors at the IPC who can offer free and confidential help for you or a family member. Please contact Niamh at (61) 265-5300 for more information.