Workshops are part of the Treatment Programme in a number of rehabs. And they can be on any one of a variety of subjects. Typically workshops can be held on anger, resentment, grief and dealing with loss (of relationships, children – any of the things we can lose either due to the vagaries of life or due to our addiction). They might be on anxiety, depression, feelings, powerlessness or spirituality. In fact they can be on anything and everything relevant to the addict. And a good treatment centre will tailor the workshop sessions to be relevant to the audience’s needs.
Expect the following
An addict who attends a workshop can expect the following… First he or she needs to expect to take part and engage with the subject matter. He or she will get a lot more out of these workshops if you he / she puts something into it. At the beginning of the session the facilitator will probably ask what those attending want out of it. And what are their pre conceived thoughts on the subject matter. Everyone needs to be open and honest and be prepared to work hard in the session. They may even enjoy it! And they also need to be willing to listen to the thoughts of others. And to give them the space to air these even if they do not agree with them. They may find that others have interesting points to make!
Explore the issues
The purpose of the workshop will be to explore the issues of those attending, to consider why they might have these issues, and to educate on how to cope better with these issues in the future. The purpose of the workshop might be to help the attending addicts to see things differently. So an addict at a workshop can expect to have to think hard and get honest about what needs to be looked at in the context of the subject matter – and to be willing to take on board information which might make him or her see things differently and then to change.
A simple example is a workshop on resentments. Most people have issues that they have held on to from the past that make them angry, make them feel hard done by etc. Sometimes they have held on to these for many years – even from childhood. They are not willing to let them go yet they are blighting their lives much more than the person they are resentful with – who in some cases will be totally unaware of the resentment – or may even since have died!
However people cling on to the resentment because it is an important part of their belief system, it has affected how they have lived their lives. It is an important part of them and who they are. And yet they are the ones who effectively feel as if they have drunk the poison – but they are expecting the other person who has not got the same poisonous resentful feelings to be the person to die!
Learn to see things differently
By the end of the workshop, the addict should have explored their feelings and views, learned something – and have learned to see things differently and in some cases learned how to behave differently – to their benefit of course.