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Kathy Mitchell, NOFAS Vice President and National Spokesperson, recently presented workshops focusing on women in treatment. Drawing upon her own experiences with addiction and raising a child with FASD, she moved the hearts and minds of the audiences and inspired many of the women to share their experiences.
50 women, many who are in recovery, attended “Recovering Hope for Our Children and Ourselves” in Susanville, CA November 15th, 2005. In several cases they faced—for the first time—the likelihood that their own drug and alcohol consumption during pregnancy had affected their children.
The event was sponsored by the Fetal Alcohol Conference Collaborative, an ad hoc volunteer group that grew out of a school district’s special education advisory board. Also in attendance were Amber Kesterson and Peggy Combs, members of CalFAS, the State affiliate of NOFAS.
In Baton Rouge, LA, Kathy presented a two day workshop titled “Addressing FASD in Addiction Treatment: Moving Client’s from Wounded Victims to Warrior Moms” on December 1-2, 2005. The event was hosted by the Capital Area Human Services District (CAHSD), providers of the publicly funded addictions, mental health, and developmental disabilities services in that region of the State. CAHSD arranged for 35 women from local treatment programs to attend the workshop and hear Kathy share her story and teach about FASD. Remarkably, many of the women admitted they had never heard about FASD despite their experiences with alcoholism and treatment. The response was overwhelming and just as in the California event, the women shared their stories. Participants remarked that they felt supported by each other and more positive about their recovery from addiction.
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