In early 2017, the Samaritan Counseling Center of Western New York will offer two one day seminars to help congregations, clergy and families deal with the effects of opiate addiction. The seminars have been funded through a grant from the Lutheran Church Extension Society.
Unfortunately, there is no foreseeable end in sight for the opiate crisis. People continue to die from overdoses every day—and if this current trend continues, we will lose 1,000 people to opiate deaths in Erie County in 2017. While Samaritan Counseling Center cannot cure this problem, it can provide effective treatment in the form of one-on-one and family counseling, community education and training for clergy and lay people to use within their congregations.
Trained Samaritan counselors will lead the seminars beginning in early 2017. The first seminar will train 30 clergy and or lay persons to use the 12 step recovery process to lead small groups offering Christian based support group to addicts, utilizing Christian scriptures and prayer support of recovery.
The second seminar will be a community based workshop using the 12 step model of supporting families with addiction, helping them deal with the anxiety and grief of addiction within the family. The Samaritan Counseling Center will utilize “Family Systems” to help families to have a stronger family relationship.
Ultimately, The Samaritan Counseling Center aims to help develop a better community understanding of opiate addiction and how to deal with it, both from the standpoint of the addict, as well as the family having the addicted member. Our project will develop stronger relationships in the church community and community at large, and ideally make an impact on our region’s opiate epidemic.
For more information on the seminars—or counseling services—call our office at (716) 743-9117.