Women of First Steps

Women of First Steps

Brandman University

Women of First Steps

Addiction is a very sensitive topic that is many times avoided because many people are afraid to talk about it. Nowadays high school student have classes that address addiction and the use of drugs and alcohol on the body and the brain. This paper will talk about a presentation that was done at***** High School by a group of women attending First Steps program, an outpatient substance abuse rehab for women with children. The paper will express reaction and critique the experience.

What is First Steps? First Steps drug treatment center is a treatment facility located in ******, *. that an individual can enter in order to treat a drug addiction or alcoholism problem. Through therapy and education at First Steps, individuals are rehabilitated using various treatment methods which can enable the women to lead productive lives. There are many reasons why a woman would need to attend First Steps. A few of the many reasons are: the inability to control their drinking or drug use, alienating their friends and family, legal problems, severe depression and general unhappiness due to excessive drug or alcohol use.

Eight women from First Steps went to ***** High School to share their own story and experience with the importance of addiction. The women went from different classrooms where substance abuse was the purpose of taking the class. The counselors did a brief presentation of what First Steps is and what the women do during the program such as random testing, detoxification, anger management, codependency class, health and fitness, parenting and seeking safety. One by one the women were presented and had the opportunity to share their stories.

Women were not given any script or any outline as to what to say. The stories were true of emotions and came from the heart.

The students had to listen to the stories and were given an opportunity to ask questions at the end of each class. Some students seem to be uncomfortable with some of the stories as some of them were very real and full of trauma details. The good thing about this part is that some of the students might have heard some stories that were pretty close to their heart. A young girl actually had tears in her eyes when one of the ladies shared how her parents were abusing her physically. All the students were paying attention. Many of them approached the women at the end of the presentation and gave them hugs and thanked them for being honest and willing to share their stories as some of the women did cry while sharing their stories.

Some students actually asked for the ladies’ phone numbers and asked if it was ok if they would call them. All the ladies