Woman’s Voice: The Lenawee Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition is a diverse group of dedicated community members united around the goal of reducing substance use in Lenawee County. LSAPC members work collaboratively to engage and educate the community in order to promote a healthy Lenawee.
Kathy Williams: This is Kathy William and with me on tonight’s program is Therese Langan and she is the owner and the director at Parkside Family Counseling and Therese’s also a therapist there.
Therese Langan: Yes.
Kathy Williams: So Therese, we appreciate you spending some time with us this evening.
Therese Langan: Oh, I’m glad to be here.
Kathy Williams: Tell us a little bit about Parkside and I know the program we’re going to be talking about has to do with teen substance use. But Parkside’s been around for quite a while?
Therese Langan: Parkside’s been around since 1997 and the population that we love to serve are teenagers and their families. And so working with teenagers has really evolved and made sense to evolve into working with kids and trying to prevent substance abuse.
Kathy Williams: Exactly. And so the program is of course by the Lenawee Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition. And you have a wonderful program coming up soon as a community education piece that Parkside is providing. It’s going to happen at the Adrian District Library. Tell us about that. What’s going on?
Therese Langan: Yes, we’re going to have, it’s a two-part series. So different information both days, on Wednesday evening July 14th, and 21st from 6 to 8 p.m. We’ll be presenting a teen substance use prevention education program and it is going to be for parents who are interested, other involved community members, or really just anybody that is interested in learning more about why it’s so important to steer teens away from substance use.
Kathy Williams: Well, and I think in today’s society, you know, there’s always been that the social aspect of peer pressure, you know, we tend to refer to that a lot. But talking to teens about use is different than talking to adults about drug and alcohol usage.
Therese Langan: It is, and one of the things that adults are really surprised to find out is that the research shows that teens use more than ever because of stress in their life.
Kathy Williams: Yeah, you know and to me it doesn’t surprise me, because I know that especially with the way the last year-and-a-half has been with all of us…
Therese Langan: Sure.
Kathy Williams: That those are crutches that a lot of us had depended on, in the past, and it seems to revert back to them. Teens may not have been exposed to the kind of stressors they have until recently.
Therese Langan: That’s true. It’s really become just more prevalent.
Kathy Williams: So, within the program then, it’s basically like you said, open to anyone. It’s a free program so there’s no fees involved.
Therese Langan: Yes.
Kathy Williams: And it’s going to teach them what?
Therese Langan: Well, the first night on the 14th, we’re going to be presenting more about what to know about substance use and teens, information about brain development and how that can be stagnated if use begins young and is consistent, trends in substance use, and just what makes it more likely to be habit-forming for teens. Then the second evening, we’re going to be talking more about what to do about it: ways to talk to teens that can be the most impactful when it comes to substance use, and positive strategies that keeps teens busy and focused on their future success.
Kathy Williams: What different ways can people find out about getting registered? I’m sure you need some kind of registration.
Therese Langan: Right, so we have a flyer that’s out and about. But the flyer is on our Facebook page. So, our Facebook page is Parkside Family Counseling and if you look for that and like our page, you can see what’s on there, and we have sent it out to various community organizations throughout the county as well.
Kathy Williams: And also is there a phone they can call as well?
Therese Langan: They can call Parkside Family Counseling to get more information and to register because we do want to know how many are coming. And our phone number that you call is 517-266-8880 and you’ll be given the information there.
Kathy Williams: There you go. And again, it is a teen substance use prevention education – almost like a seminar, little mini seminar…
Therese Langan: Yes.
Kathy Williams: Wednesday evening July 14th as well as Wednesday evening July 21st from 6 to 8 p.m. Well, Therese, I want to thank you again for stopping by and helping us with getting this information out to the general public We hope you have a lot of people show up for this.
Therese Langan: Thank you very much.
Woman’s Voice: Thank you for listening. This information has been provided by the Lenawee Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition. New messages air on the first and third Monday of each month at 6:15 p.m. You can listen to this program as a podcast under the audio tab on WLEN.com and listen and gather more information at DrugPreventionLenawee.com.
