University and community experts will focus on a variety of issues from stress management to juvenile delinquency during seminars this winter, to help students understand the causes and effects of substance abuse.
In a series of nine weekend workshops, the Substance Abuse Prevention Program will examine addictive behaviors that lead to substance abuse, intervention methods and ways to avoid the thinking and behavior patterns that can lead to substance dependency.
“It’s important that students are prepared for these kinds of issues when they leave the University because they aren’t always taught in the classroom,” said Miki Mace, SAPP administrator.
Mace, who will speak at several of the seminars, said drug abuse is present throughout today’s society, so the seminar topics cover a wide range of issues in which substance abuse may exist. In addition to teaching about drug addictions and relapses, there will also be topics on homelessness and stress management, she said.
“Both homelessness and stress can be precursors to using [drugs],” she said, adding this is often because of feelings of hopelessness or depression.
Each presenter will examine his or her issue first at the national level and then narrow down to the problem at the local level by using a variety of speakers, lectures and videos, Mace said.
“We’re really trying to make students aware of and understand the seriousness of drug abuse,” she said.
Janai Lowenstein, international trainer in self-help programs, will teach the Success with Stress workshop to help participants cope with stress in healthy ways instead of turning to drugs.
“People who abuse are looking for something outside themselves to change what they’re experiencing internally,” Lowenstein said.
She said to prevent unhealthy behaviors, she will teach quick and natural ways to increase personal energy so people will not be as likely to need drugs.
Lowenstein said she will focus on how to change feelings of negative self-worth, tips for conflict resolution, personal stress inventory, communication skills and ways to discover key stress signals that help prevent stress-related behaviors, such as drug abuse.
“If a person’s attention toward what they’re doing is positive, they’ll want to do it again and again,” she said.
Ann Kokkeler, program coordinator for SAPP, said students need to know about substance abuse for their own sake, and for the sake of others.
“Prevention is part of education,” she said.
Kokkeler said students must complete a take-home essay exam of five pages due 10 days after the seminar. The essay entails comparing readings from SAPP’s Web site to lecture notes from the seminar, she said.
Kokkeler said even though the seminars are at the 400 level, the content can be managed by all students.
“I think the level scares off a lot of freshman and sophomores, but this is not a workload they can’t handle,” she said. “Information on substance abuse is valuable for everyone, and the earlier they get it, the more valuable it is.”
Students can earn one elective credit for one-day workshops, which cost $40, and two credits for two-day seminars, which cost $80. The seminars and workshops are listed under Education 407/507, and students can register through the Office of the Registrar through the Friday before the weekend session. The workshops run from 8 a.m. to 5:20 p.m., with breaks throughout the day.