The Thorpe Recovery Centre will continue to try and help kids living in addicted homes.
In November, the Centre launched the children’s program, which seeks to help children in addictive households understand addiction and how to deal with a using loved one. According to data from the Thorpe Recovery Centre, kids who grow up in addictive homes are eight times more likely to develop an addiction themselves.
Thorpe Recovery Centre Business Development Assistant Sarah Fox says this program helps kids understand addiction in many ways.
“Many of them believe that they’re the reason for their parent’s behaviour or their loved one’s behaviour. It lets them know that it’s not their fault, it’s a disease and it helps them learn healthy coping mechanisms, grounding and emotional regulation.”
The program does this through storytelling and communications exercises and actives such as art therapy. Their first session in November saw six kids in the program and with financial help from various local governments and organizations including the City of Lloydminster, they plan to keep it going. The Thorpe Recovery Centre, with the help of those donations says the will operate the next session at no cost.
Fox says that by removing this “financial barrier” they could help more kids, and see an even bigger impact then they have already.
“[The kids] now feel safer to talk to their parents, they feel like they’re a part, a valued member of their family and they understand the disease a lot more, which I think is the best outcome.”
The next session for the Children’s program is February 23rd to 25th. Anyone looking to register is asked to call the Thorpe Recovery Centre.