Invitation to Change Retreat
If you have a child using substances in a problematic way, there is a good chance you are dealing with a lot, including struggling with difficult emotional reactions and an intangible grief. Maybe you’re worried that your family is not “normal”, or that something terrible will happen to your child. Maybe you’re angry at your child, or at yourself (or both), for not being able to solve their problems. Maybe you are finding yourself becoming more and more reclusive because you feel ashamed of them and how your life has turned out. Maybe you are struggling with PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder). I know that I have felt all of these things over the course of my own Heroic Parent's Journey.
The Heroic Parent's Journey is lonely, but it doesn't have to be. Nor does it have to feel hopeless.
This retreat is centered around the Invitation to Change approach, and it is truly and deeply that: a helping approach based on inviting change in, not demanding or forcing it. It is founded on the metaphor that if we behave like patient farmers by skillfully planting new seeds, some of them will grow and thrive.
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What You May Have Experienced
As you have tried to help, you may have heard some things along the way that made you feel worse instead of better about your child, about their situation, or about yourself. Maybe you’ve heard the popular advice that they need to “hit rock bottom” before they will change. Maybe you’ve heard (or been made to feel) that you are the problem because you are “codependent” or an “enabler.” Maybe the “wisdom” from well intended sources has made you feel hopeless, not hopeful. Maybe you've been the receiver of what I call "harsh parenting judgement". The reality is that substance use problems are deeply stigmatized behaviours that can bring guilt, shame, and embarrassment to the person struggling with use and to the people who love them.
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A New Approach
You may have just begun to worry about your child, or maybe you have been struggling for a long time. You may be eager to help, or you may be completely burned out and questioning if you even want to be involved anymore because nothing you do seems to help. You might be wondering, “Can the Invitation to Change approach help me?”
Whatever the particular strengths and vulnerabilities of your child, whatever their age, your relationship to them, or whatever their levels and patterns of use or other problematic behaviours are, if you are open and curious about trying out some new ideas and implementing some new strategies in your life, then this retreat is for you. The Invitation to Change approach will give you insights and skills to help your child without fights, ultimatums, “interventions,” or distancing yourself. This process will not be without pain or difficult moments, but it will give you a whole new perspective about how to help because it is — at its core — a collaborative, empathic, and compassionate approach for all involved, including you.
Facilitated by Sara Moore, Certified Invitation to Change Group Leader
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FRI, JAN. 10th to SUN, JAN 12th
The Invitation to Change Retreat is $497 for a room in the Lodge, $697 for the Cozy Cabin or Stargazer Geodome (or $497 if either of them are shared) plus HST. View the brochure for more information about the retreat and to see the accommodation options and agenda. Space is limited, to reserve your spot please contact Sara here.
