Tuesday, May 12, 2015

May 11, 2015

Council staff Bev Haberle (left),
Concella Bell and Fred Martin,
with volunteers
Joan Vieldhouse (2nd from left) and Sabrina Washington.

Honoring Hundreds of Volunteers

Never underestimate the power of a smalll group of committed

people to change the world. In fact, it is the only thing that ever has.

-Margaret Mead

Forty years ago our agency was borne out of adversity and heartache by volunteers who wanted to correct the failures of a community to appropriately respond to the needs of an individual suffering from the disease of addiction.

"Ignorance, stigma and the lack of adequate treatment led this handful of volunteers to create an organization that changed howwe address addiction for individuals, their families and our communities," according to Bev Haberle, executive director ofThe Council of Southeast Pennsylvania, Inc. Like so many of our staff, Bev first got involved with The Council as a volunteer, and served in many roles over the last three decades before taking the helm.

Traveling from Philadelphia to Bristol to Doylestown recently, to honor volunteers at three of our Recovery Community Centers' celebrations, Bev shared our organization's genesis, growing from Bucks County to 10 locations throughout our five-county area. She offered her gratitude and encouragement, thanking the volunteers for "continuing the legacy of that small group that set in motion opportunities for thousands of individuals and families to dramatically change their lives - to survive, to thrive, and to embrace the benefits of recovery with dignity and respect."

Click each site to see more photos and video clips from our Volunteer Appreciation Day festivities for our ProAct volunteers at Central Bucks, Southern Bucks and Philadelphia

Introduction to Peer Recovery Coaching for Young People, May 16

Roland Lamb, director of the City of Philadelphia's Office of Addiction Services,Department of Behavioral Heath and Intellectual disAbilities Services (DBHIDS),will be the keynote speaker at a one-day introduction to peer recovery coaching for young people. The program is approved for 4.5 PCB credit hours.

The program offers education and collaborations for young people interested in supporting peer recovery, and is especially focused on empowering young men of color who have had experience with the Juvenile Justice System.

Known as The Brotherly Initiative, the program is offered free by Young People in Recovery (YPR),in affiliation with President Obama's My Brother's Keeper Initiative, and supported by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). Other featured speakers: Devin Reaves, MSW, CRS, and Nathniel D. Ellison, M.A.

The event will be hosted by ProAct's Philadelphia Recovery Community Center at 1701 W. Lehigh Avenue, #6, on Saturday, May 16, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Lunch will be provided.

Registration is required. Space is limited and nearly full. For more information or to register, visitYoungPeopleInRecovery.org/registrationor call 215-345-6644 by Wednesday, May 13. Click for flyer

Holistic Acupuncture Series at ProAct Philadelphia

Many benefits are associated with acupuncture as an holistic recovery support that helps decrease anxiety, mood swings, insomnia, cravings and withdrawal symptoms. You are invited to learn more, observe or receive acupuncture treatments at one or all of the following sessions offered from 12 Noon to 1:00 p.m. at ProAct's Philadelphia Recovery Community Center, 1701 W. Lehigh Street, #6, Philadelphia on Thursdays, 5/14, 5/21 and 6/11; and Fridays, 5/29 and 6/5.

The program is free but donations are welcome. Sessions are provided by students supervised by clinical instructors from the Won Institute of Graduate Studies, the only accredited acupuncture school in Pennsylvania. Registrations are requested. Please call Philadelphia Recovery Community Center at 215-223-7700. For additional information, email Karima.Williams@woninstitute.edu

Expungement Workshop: Can Your Criminal Record be Erased?

A criminal record can be one of the biggest obstacles to getting a job, but
some records can be expunged. Join Erica Briant, legal fellow at Legal Aid of Southeast Pennsylvania, to learn more about how her organization can help
clear criminal records for people looking for employment.

The program will provide information and support so you can find out if you can get an expungement or pardon for a past criminal record and to find out about employment protection options when you are applying for a job. Come prepared with questions related to your situation.

The workshop will be held at ProAct's Southern Bucks Recovery Communty Center, 1286 Veterans Highway, #D6, Bristol, on Thursday, May 14, from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. For more information or to register, contact Karen at 215-788-3738 or by email at kburke@councilsepa.org

Legal Aid of Southeast Pennsylvania provides quality legal representation to low-income and vulnerable people in Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery County, to empower them to solve problems without legal representation through legal education and increased access to the courts, and to change community practices and systems that cause or aggravate poverty.

Advancing in Recovery Annual Conference, Friday, 5/22

Motivational speaker Jenn Friedman, is an author, musician and recovery advocate who knows that freedom from addiction and illness is possible.

Eating Disorders on a Wire: Music and Metaphor as Pathways, is a book and music compilation project that allows Jenn to share her message of strength, hope and connection and encourage others to cultivate their own voice and process.

Clinicians and people in recovery are welcome to attend this free conference, sponsored by Magellan Healthcare and the Board of Bucks County Commissioners,
on Friday, May 22, from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at Delaware Valley University.

Breakout sessions will be focused on a variety of holistic topics such as art therapy, yoga, music, storytelling through writing, healthy eating, gardening and volunteering with animals. Council staffFred Martin and Rick Petrolawicz will lead sessions on "Our Voices Have Power" (positive ways to share your lived experience) and "Gateway to Work" (addressing gaps in employment, resume writing and interviewing), respectively. This conference is approved for 6 CU credits.

Bucks County Transport, Inc. will provide transportation assistance at four locations: Bristol, Doylestown, Langhorne and Sellersville. For more information on breakout sessions, transportation, or to register, click here or call 215-444-2707. Click for more about Jenn Friedman

Save the Date!

ProAct Recovery Walks! 2015

Penn's Landing, Philadelphia
Saturday, September 19

Register Free. Form a Team. Join the Honor Guard. Volunteer. Donate. Sponsor.

click here recoverywalks.org

AmazonSmile is a simple and automatic way for you to support your favorite charitable organization every time you shop, at no cost to you. When you shop at smile.amazon.com, you'll find the exact same low prices, vast selection and convenient shopping experience as Amazon.com, with the added bonus that Amazon will donate a portion of the purchase price to The Council.

Go to www.smile.amazon.com
Log in with Amazon account info or register if you are a new member
Type in The Council of Southeast Pennsylvania, Inc. and click SEARCH
We will come up, hit SELECT
Amazon donates 0.5% of the price of your eligible AmazonSmile purchases to The Council.

councilsepa.org

24/7 Confidential Information/Referral Line: 800-221-6333

Click here for Employment Opportunities

Click here to Join Our Mailing List

Our Mission is to provide resources and opportunities

to reduce the impact of addiction, trauma and other related health issues.

We offer prevention, intervention, assessment, counseling,

education, advocacy, and recovery support services.

Your donations help us continue our success in offering hope, healing and recovery planning

for individuals, their families, and our communities.

DONATE

Donations help us to reduce the impact of addiction for more individuals and families. The Council is a 501(c)(3) organization.

Sunday, May 10, 2015

Mike Huckabee Presidential Announcement Full Speech (C-SPAN)

“Flakka” is Latest Synthetic Drug to Worry Experts

/BY JOIN TOGETHER STAFF

April 14th, 2015/

A drug known as “flakka” is the latest synthetic compound to raise concern among public health experts, Fox News reports. Flakka is a tweaked version of bath salts.

In some cases, Flakka can cause heart palpitations and aggressive, violent behavior, the article notes. Use of the drug can affect the kidneys, leading to kidney failure or death.

Flakka use has recently been reported in Florida, Ohio and Texas. The name is derived from the Spanish word “flaca,” which means “skinny.” The drug is sold in other parts of the country as “Gravel.”

In Florida, Flakka contains alpha-PVP, a substance that provides an instant sense of euphoria, according to Jim Hall of Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale. The drug also gives a boost in physical strength that is similar to other stimulants, such as Ecstasy and cocaine, he said.

Hospitals in South Florida are admitting 20 new patients a day for Flakka abuse, Hall told Fox News. “One of the reasons we think alpha-PVP is such a problem is because it is extremely dose-specific, and even just a little dose will give a person the desired effect they want,” he said. “Just a little more can create a number of serious adverse effects to the point the user doesn’t even know.”

Flakka, which comes in crystalline rock form, can be snorted, swallowed, injected or vaped in an e-cigarette. While its effects are generally felt for three or four hours, they can continue for days. It is being sold in Florida for $5 for one-tenth of a gram.

“It’s cheap like crack cocaine,” Hall said. “This is as close as we’ve come to a crack cocaine problem since 1995 in terms of the severe reactions, low prices, and that it’s available to young kids, and even homeless populations are now impacted.”

Home / Join Together / Colorado Tries to Prevent People From Overdosing on Marijuana Edibles

Colorado Tries to Prevent People From Overdosing on Marijuana Edibles

/BY JOIN TOGETHER STAFF

April 14th, 2015/

Colorado health officials are trying to find a way to prevent people from overdosing on marijuana edibles. The products have been implicated in two suicides and one murder in the past 13 months, according to The Denver Post.

Almost five million edibles were sold in Colorado stores last year. The Denver Post commissioned lab tests of 10 popular brands, and found edibles’ highs are more delayed and long-lasting than smoking or vaporizing marijuana. Some brands severely mismeasure the potency of their products, the newspaper found.

“There’s a learning curve for consumers of edibles,” Art Way, Colorado’s state director of the pro-legalization group Drug Policy Alliance, told the newspaper. “We cannot escape the issue of personal responsibility. That said, the industry should do all that is reasonable in the formative years of marijuana legalization to combat concerns around edibles.”

The state has standardized edibles’ warning labels, and mandated that 10-milligram doses of THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, be individually wrapped. Colorado is also running educational campaigns about proper use of edibles. A mandatory lab-testing program requires edible companies to test each batch for potency.

New rules for edibles are due January 1. While they may help reduce accidental ingestions, it is unclear if they will stop people from eating too much, too fast, critics contend.

Edible marijuana products have become a popular alternative to smoking marijuana in Colorado, since retail sales of the products became legal. Adults 21 and over can legally purchase marijuana edibles at state-licensed stores. Marijuana is now available in products ranging from candy to soda and granola. The amount of marijuana in edible products varies widely. In some cases, products contain levels so high that people experience extreme paranoia and anxiety.

Women for Sobriety, Inc.

2015 WFS Conference: Registration Flyer

Sending out a reminder: LAST DAY TO REGISTER IS MONDAY, MAY 11TH
_____________________
Hello WFS Members,
We have the 2015 WFS Conference Registration Flyer on our website and for those that didn't see it, we've attached the pdf (the attachment is located at the bottom of this email). We hope you can join us on June 5, 6, & 7, 2015 for a great weekend getaway with 4C women! An added bonus is that you can arrive a day early -Thursday - and spend some quality time with your WFS sisters at the dormitory. The registration price includes staying in the dormitory.... the price will NOT be lowered if you choose to stay OFF CAMPUS. Believe me, you will have a lot more fun staying in the dorm with all of your new friends!

***WFS AUCTION*** Don't forget about WFS's Annual Fundraiser! It will be held on Saturday of the conference and we need your support... handmade items, crafts, quilts, artwork, jewelry, baskets of goodies... it all adds up to lots of exciting bids and friendly competition to raise much needed funds for our organization. If you are bringing auction items with you to conference, we will have a pre-auction set up table on Friday to sort through all the goodies... SUGGESTION: ONE-OF-A-KIND ITEMS garner more bids than multiples of the same item. That being said, we welcome 'multiples' too!

***REGISTRATION DISCOUNT*** Every year we provide a $20 discount for the early birds who register by April 1st. The registration for the WHOLE weekend with a double room is only $265 (includes 2 nights at the dormitory, 5 meals, and all workshops on Saturday & Sunday). After April 1st, the regular cost of $285 for a double room will apply. Fill the form out today and join us for a great weekend retreat! We already have 2 ladies registered!!

Registration Deadline is May 11th, 2015

WFS Conference will be held at DeSales University in Center Valley, Pennsylvania. Campus map and directions are available at their site: http://desales.edu/home/about/campus-region/campus-map

You can FAX (215-538-9026) or MAIL (PO Box 618, Quakertown, PA 18951) your registration form to the WFS office - we will not be able to take registrations over the phone due to the Personal Responsibility Form needing to be signed.

IMPORTANT - IF YOU HAVE ANY ....ANY!... QUESTIONS - CALL OR EMAIL ME DIRECTLY AT THE OFFICE...NOT THE ONLINE FORUM. We appreciate your support of WFS! I am so looking forward to seeing you!

Warm regards,
Becky Fenner, WFS Director

PS: Here's a peek at our new conference totes!

Email: newlife@nni.com * Tel: 215-536-8026 * Fax: 215-538-9026

http://www.womenforsobriety.org * http://www.wfscatalog.org

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Best of the week from Choose Help

About Planning An Intervention... for Yourself

Learn how to plan an intervention for yourself. There are countless pathways to recovery but none of them are walked alone. Find out what needs to be done, based on what's possible - not on what's comfortable.

The first question I ask of anyone who wants to break free of addiction is, "Are you willing to do whatever it takes?" Conditions and contingencies get us killed. What we're unwilling to do becomes something our disease will use against us.

In a very real sense it doesn't matter what we want, feel, or know. It's about what we need and in this context, willingness is everything.

There are countless pathways to recovery but none of them are walked alone. Shame and fear are our biggest obstacles. Too often we struggle alone based in the misguided notion that we are protecting our loved ones. I've sat with no small number of folks who wished they could break through, stop pretending, and reach out for help.

In the following model you will find out how to plan an intervention for yourself - what needs to be done based on what's possible and not at all on what's comfortable.

Changing How We Conceptualize Intervention

There are only two ways recovery gets initiated:

An individual seeks help
Concerned people in their life intervene

In an intervention, folks come forward and typically offer some level of support. When we come forward ourselves, we generally do so without supportive others, without plans, and generally with very few resources.

Treatment professionals offer strategies for attaining abstinence and preventing relapse. We typically find that the more people we involve, the better our chances of success. My experiences as an addictions interventionist left me wondering: What if the individual seeking help could receive all the benefits of an intervention?

First Things First

See your Primary Care Physician (PCP). We always urge folks to err on the side of caution. Determine what risks are involved in withdrawing and what steps need to be taken to ensure your medical needs are met. Talking with your PCP is a starting point to determine what level of care options are available:

outpatient addiction treatment
intensive outpatient
medically supervised detox
residential rehab

Developing a Plan

The most effective interventionist I ever worked with taught me to keep it simple, "It starts with accountability and responsibility. If you don't have those you don't have anything. Make a plan and share it with good people. Do whatever you have to do to ensure that you stay clean and sober."

The only "must have" to start the process of building your own intervention is at least one person who truly understands both addiction and recovery. This person can be a friend, family member, a peer in a 12 step community, a recovery coach, or aprofessional addictions counselor/interventionist. The choice of these should be based on who you believe will do the most to hold you accountable. I favor 12 step folks and professionals because they'll be the least conflicted emotionally about calling us out on our self deception in no uncertain terms.

Take Stock of Your Resources:

Family (immediate and extended)
Friends (current and old)
Religious Community
Community Resources (Grassroots Movements, Civic Organizations & Health Clinics)
Local Recovery Communities (12 Step Meetings & Fellowship)
Workplace (coworkers, supervisor/manager/owner)
Health Insurance Benefits
Financial Options regarding treatment
Past experiences in recovery

Keep It Simple

The purpose of examining resources is two fold:

Who are the stakeholders (people invested in attaining the solution)
What can they contribute to the process (emotional, financial support and pragmatic support like transportation and child care).

These determinations will allow you to share with folks how (if they're willing) they can best be supportive. Good intentions and vague offers of support are not sufficient. We won't be asking folks to commit in the moment but offering them clarity will ensure they understand what they're agreeing to and give them an active role in supporting our recovery.

Plan the Gathering

Choose a date and time in which folks won't be rushed. An intervention doesn't need to be an all-day event. It's best to allow a minimum of two hours and a maximum of four. Pick a site that has enough room and is accessible to folks you most want present (consider driving distance and basic facilities).

Invitations

Phone-call invitations tend to yield a lot of questions. One of the benefits to staging your own intervention is that you tell the story fewer times. I suggest sending invitations via email or social media if you're confident folks check them often enough. If any of your guests are elderly or not techno friendly, mail a card or letter.

Share a short sentiment that you need their support in making a major life change. Ask that they hold their questions until the event. Thank them for their patience and understanding and for being a part of your life.

Choose a Facilitator

Having a neutral facilitator is key. Emotions are likely to run high and the folks you'll be talking with all have a personal history with you. Ideally, a professional interventionist or experienced addictions counselor will fill this role. More affordable options include hiring a recovery coach or life coach. If finances do not allow for hiring a professionals or paraprofessionals, asking someone with long term recovery experience is still a very strong option. Ideally, this would be a sponsor or other strong supporter from a local 12 step program.

Follow Through

It's impossible to predict how the intervention itself will unfold. You can guarantee success if your expectations are simply to:

Share the truth about your addiction.
Ask for what you need.
Seek accountability and support from the folks in your life who matter to you.

After the intervention you will be free to schedule time one-on-one and fine-tune plans. If we maintain contact, honesty and consistency, we are going to experience unprecedented success. Addiction affects every life, directly and/or indirectly. Allowing others to be part of the solution strengthens community and weakens the grip of addiction on us all.

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