CAAP Final Project: Letter of Intent. A Facilitator's Training Manual for Parenting in Early Recovery. from Substance Use.

Transcription

1 Running head: PARENTING IN EARLY RECOVERY Facilitator s Training Manual 1 CAAP Final Project: Letter of Intent A Facilitator's Training Manual for Parenting in Early Recovery from Substance Use Karen Janzen Supervisor: Gina Wong-Wylie Date: September 15, 2006

2 Facilitator s Training Manual 2 CAAP Final Project: Letter of Intent A Facilitator's Training Manual for Parenting in Early Recovery from Substance Use Problem Statement and Project Rationale In partial fulfillment of my Masters degree in Counselling Psychology I intend to develop a facilitator s manual for parenting in early recovery for a 10 week residential treatment center for women and children. Peardonville House is nestled in the country in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia and has been in operation since In response to barriers preventing women from seeking treatment, the facility moved to incorporate a mom and child program involving women able to bring their children under six along while in treatment (Valley Recovery Support Association, 1999). During the past 15 years, the facility has offered an onsite childcare centre and parenting component to their program. This includes individual and group parenting formats as well as a hands-on component in the childcare centre. An important area lacking from this program is a formal training manual for facilitators in leading a weekly parenting group. Training manuals are useful in providing uniformity, heightening effectiveness and preserving philosophy and procedures (Wideman, 2003). Facilitators have so far been conducting parenting groups with little prior training in group process and in understanding the complexities of parenting in early recovery from substance use. The facilitators expressed a need for a training manual which will help them

3 Facilitator s Training Manual 3 learn the theory and skills to meet the needs of the clients through the group process and assist the clients with balancing parenting and early recovery. Presently, the facilitators come from a variety of disciplines such as nursing, social work, early childhood education and child and youth care training. While each facilitator s training is unique, the disciplines are human service based and provide some commonality. The training manual will be for the facilitators and includes: program philosophy, theoretical foundations, balancing parenting with early recovery, facilitation skills, group objective, examples of session plans, forms, references and additional resources. Supporting Literature Parenting is one of the greatest rewards and challenges facing individuals. Strong families and effective parents are critical in raising emotionally healthy children (Kumpfer & Alvarado, 2003). The positive outcomes of increasing confidence in parenting while providing tools for effective communication and strategies in caring for children strengthen attachment and decrease childhood problems (Brindis, Berkowitz, & Clayson, 1997). Most parenting programs cover topics such as discipline, understanding child growth and development, safety, health and nutrition, effective communication, play, and stress management yet do not address the dynamic of substance use. The Peardonville House parenting program incorporates substance use dynamics within the parenting classes. This makes it a truly unique program. The program is offered one morning a week for 8-10 sessions and utilizes group discussion as the main vehicle of

4 Facilitator s Training Manual 4 learning and uses a variety of learning styles and mediums to engage active participation by the clients (Gross & Grady, 2002). I have had the opportunity to participate in being one of the original facilitator s of the program and understand the benefit of bridging the field of substance use and parenting. Parent education groups are seen as the most effective way to enact change and strengthen the family unit (Vimpani & Spooner, 2003). The literature presents a strong thrust for women in early recovery to participate in parenting programs as a preventative measure in their recovery and as a means for learning new skills and techniques in resuming the role of parenting (Currie, 2001; Reist et al., 2004). Importance of the Project The project provides the ability to offer a comprehensive parenting educational program with an emphasis on parenting while in early recovery, delivered by trained facilitators that will ascribe to the biopsychosocial-spiritual model embraced by the province of BC, and will be a positive step forward. It will bring together the field of addiction and parenting into the same arena. Providing uniform training to the facilitators will ensure consistency in the sessions and maximize effectiveness and creativity. This will result in offering the clients best parenting practices in a safe environment through a variety of learning styles. The opportunity to take this learning and put it into practice under caring observation promotes the parentchild attachment and allows for trying-on new methods of parenting and time for debriefing.

5 Facilitator s Training Manual 5 Description of Methods and/or Procedures The purpose of this training manual is to be a tool to support the facilitators in the weekly parent education program. The weekly topic covered in group is then practiced over, the course of the week by the client and her child/ren. A need arose from the current facilitator who was retiring and another staff who was leaving. No one was comfortable taking over the parenting program. It was then decided, along with the clinical counselling staff, that a facilitator s manual and training would benefit future facilitators. A review of the current weekly topics and sessions will serve as the starting point for categorizing materials and resources. Each session topic will involve a short literature review to ensure that the most current and empirical research is incorporated. An outline of the manual will be written and will include; philosophy, history, guiding assumptions, schedule, the needs, session goals, topics, theoretical grounding, and dealing with group dynamics. Additional resources and materials will be compiled into the weekly sessions. Special attention will be given to the consideration of cultural awareness in presenting the material. Several facilitators within the program expressed difficulty in providing a traditional parenting program without having a greater understanding of the complexity of substance use and recurring themes that emerge in parenting while in early

6 Facilitator s Training Manual 6 recovery. As such, this information will be incorporated in to the manual. I will seek to combine the everyday challenges of parenting within the backdrop and context of substance use and address varying ages of parenting infants, children, and youth. Potential Implications of the Project The potential of developing a facilitator s training manual for the parenting program at a women s residential treatment center for substance use includes increasing the facilitator s understanding of the complexities of substance use and parenting while in early recovery, by providing weekly ideas and resources to use and by providing uniformity in the sessions. The clients will benefit from greater organization and planning of the material. The client will gain valuable learning around child development and strategies to be an effective parent. This training and manual can be offered to other agencies, day programs and residential treatment centers who work with clients dealing with substance use issues. This final project will therefore be an invaluable tool to strengthening the family unit and increasing a client s confidence in her ability to parent.

7 Facilitator s Training Manual 7 References Brindis, C., Berkowitz, G., & Clayson, Z. (1997). Options for recovery: Promoting perinatal drug and alcohol recovery, child health, and family stability. Journal of Drug Issues, 27, Currie, J. C. (2001). Best practices treatment and rehabilitation for women with substance use problems. Retrieved July 21, 2006, from Government of Canada Web Site: Gross, D., & Grady, J. (2002). Group-based parent training for preventing mental health disorders in children. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 23, Kumpfer, K. L., & Alvarado, R. (2003). Family-strengthening approaches for the prevention of youth problem behaviours. American Psychologist, 58(6/7), Max Wideman. (2003). Benfits and tips on writing successful manuals. Retrieved August 12, 2006, from Reist, D., Marlatt, G. A., Goldnar, E. M., Parks, G. A., Fox, J., & Kang, S. (May, 2004). Every door is the right door. A BC planning framework to addressproblematic substance use and addiction. Retrieved October 27, 2004, from British Columbia Ministry of Health Web Site: e_use_and_addiction_pdf Valley Recovery Support Association. (1999). Breaking the cycle of addiction [Brochure]. Abbotsford, BC: Author.

8 Facilitator s Training Manual 8 Vimpani, G., & Spooner, C. (2003). Minimizing substance misuse by strategies to strengthen families. Drug and Alcohol Review, 22,