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0:00 Checking the calendar, it’s the third Wednesday of the month. And that’s when we catch up with the folks from the McCall Behavioral Health Network. We want to welcome back to the program someone who’s been part of our guest group before, Alicia Peterson, who is a Family Recovery coach at McCall. Welcome back to the show, Alicia.
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0:31Thank you.
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0:32 Thanks for joining us. A couple of things we wanted to talk about. Wanted to talk about your work as a Family Recovery Coach, and also an event coming up next week called the second annual Trails to Wellness. Yes.
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0:46 You’ve been with McCall now for a couple of years, right?
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0:49 I have. A little over two years in June. Okay, and you were a client before that? Oh yes, I have eight years of continuous sobriety, which July 13th, and before that I was with McCall’s for probably four years.
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1:08 Well congratulations. Thank you. And great work on that, and so glad McCall could be part of that solution for you. Tell us about your work as a Family Recovery Coach. What do you
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1:21 do here in working with families? I meet with family members who are struggling with navigating a relationship with someone who is either currently using substances or has stopped using substances or isn’t ready for change. And I teach them a little bit about the psychoeducation behind substance use disorder and mental health conditions, the stages of change and what those look like.
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1:52 Right. I teach them about effective communication, which could help their loved one gain some motivation towards wanting to make a change. And I also help them create self-care and wellness plans for their own recovery, because as we all know, substance use disorder is a family condition.
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2:14 It affects everyone in its wake. So, I think it’s important for families to know that it’s just as important for them to get well as it is for their loved one. And it’s not a straight line, is it?
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2:27 Absolutely not.
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2:28 No, it’s different for everyone. Recovery in itself is very individual.
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2:35 So one of the things I imagine that you have to be on your A game all the time when you’ve got a family member who is battling this is making sure that you’ve got the strength to be at your best.
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2:50 Absolutely. You can’t pour from an empty cup.
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2:53 So self-care.
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2:54 Yes, yes. Which is what our event, Trails to Wellness, is all about. We think it’s so important to introduce people in the community to the different wellness techniques and organizations that are within our community. And that’s what the event is all about and people have a chance to try things out hands-on and if they decide that is something they want to incorporate in their usual routine then they can
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3:23 And they can also work with me to create to help look into different options now
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3:30 This is going to be going on Thursday afternoon into the evening right in downtown, Torrington
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3:36 Yes, Franklin Square this year.
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3:39 Okay, well used space down there.
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3:42 I love it.
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3:43 So what are people going to find if they go down there? What kinds of activities, what kinds of options might be open for them?
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3:50 Okay, so Trails to Wellness is self-care and the many pathways to recovery. So, it’s not just for people who have substance use or mental health conditions. It is for anyone in the community who would like, even children, who would like to, you know, just come down and do some fun
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4:09 things. We have a community canvas painting. We have mandala paintings. We have aromatherapy. We have gardening. A nutrition person. We have tarot card readings, crystals, a life coach, yoga, you name it, it’s there.
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4:32So you can talk to these folks, find out if maybe some of these things might help you in your own self-care. Absolutely.
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4:38 Yeah.
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4:39 Yeah. And that’s going to be going on Thursday, July 25th, going on from 4 to 7 down at Franklin Square. In your own situation, being at your best, important for your work and in your personal life as you’ve been through a little something in your family just shortly ago and still are
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4:58 really but have turned something of a corner. Yes, back in March of March 5th my daughter turned 12 years old, and she told me her neck hurt and I looked at it and being a cancer survivor myself, I knew that something just wasn’t okay. So, we began with the going to doctors and I was advocating for her and pushing for them, no, we’re not going to just watch this,
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5:27 she needs care right now. And we found out that she had stage two Hodgkin’s lymphoma and she’s been going through chemotherapy ever since. We found out last week that she will be in remission at the end of the month.
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5:47 Wonderful.
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5:48 Yes. Wonderful. But taking care of myself throughout this whole thing has been so important.
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5:55 And your advocacy for her health. Oh, yes.
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5:59 Which transfers to your work. Absolutely. If you’re a family member of someone who is
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6:04 battling substance, your advocacy. Yes, it’s so important. Without that, we probably would have been in a worse situation. So, it is so important to learn to advocate for yourself and taking care of yourself allows you to do that.
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6:22 Our guest this morning, if you’re just joining us. Alicia Peterson is a family recovery coach with the McCall Behavioral Health Network. Her event, Trails to Wellness, is going on just over a week from now, Thursday, July 25th in downtown Torrington. We’ve got about a minute to sum up. Let’s talk about your work and if there’s someone who’s got a family member that is dealing with substance and they’re trying to stay in the fight with them.
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6:51 Some final words of encouragement for them. Take care of yourself. If there is any ever a time that you feel overwhelmed, I’d be more than happy to walk alongside you and help connect you to different resources in the area and just walk with you through the journey. I can be reached at 860-496-2100 anytime if we could help.
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7:21 Thanks for being our guest and for sharing the story about your daughter. We are glad that she has turned a happier corner health-wise. We hope for full and complete recovery and no more of this cancer stuff for her so she can enjoy her life.
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7:36 Thank you very much.
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7:37 Alicia, thanks for being our guest.
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7:39 Thank you for having me.
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7:40 With that, we’ll head back to the newsroom.