Dawn Farm’s Free Community Education

January events in Dawn Farm’s free community education series – The Dawn Farm Education Series is a valuable, free source of helpful, hopeful, practical information about substance use disorders, recovery, family concerns and related topics for people throughout Southeast Michigan. We’d like to ask your help to inform your followers about upcoming Education Series programs. The following programs will be presented in January 2018: Safe and Effective Management of Pain and Addiction will be presented on Tuesday January 16, 2018, from 7:30 pm to 9:00 pm; by Dr. Carl Christensen, MD, Ph.D., D-FASAM; and Dr. Mark A. Weiner, MD, D-FASAM. The Institute of Medicine estimates around a 100 million Americans suffer with chronic pain, and it’s estimated that about 10% of our population has or has had a substance use disorder. Both chronic pain and substance use disorders are major public health challenges, and treating concurrent pain and substance addiction is especially challenging. Common prescribing practices intended to provide relief of acute and chronic pain can trigger relapse in people with substance use disorders and have also fueled an epidemic of opiod misuse, addiction and overdose death. People with pain deserve relief, and the good news is there are many strategies for both acute and chronic pain management that are safe and effective for people at risk of or in recovery from substance use disorders. This presentation will discuss various methods of pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic pain management and their relative risks and benefits, and describe creative approaches to effective pain relief for people in recovery from substance use disorders. The presentation will include a short demonstration of naloxone resuscitation. How to Support Recovery and Not Support Addiction will be presented on Tuesday January 23, 2018, from 7:30 pm to 9:00 pm; by Dr. Charles F. Gehrke, MD, FACP, FASAM. The course of an individual’s substance use may be strongly influenced by family members, friends, employers and others. The disease of addiction is often poorly understood, and the behaviors of a person with addiction are often bewildering to family and friends. Well-intentioned but poorly-informed individuals may inadvertently enable addiction to progress by shielding the person with addiction from consequences that could potentially initiate change. This program will address these common questions: When all else has failed, what does work when confronted with a loved one’s addiction? What does not work? What can others do to help? What does not help? What role does an individual play in supporting another person’s recovery process? The course will outline simple but effective actions for family, friends and others to avoid enabling another person’s addiction, support the person’s recovery, and maintain their own health and well-being. Trauma, Chemical Use and Addiction will be presented on Tuesday January 30, 2018, from 7:30 pm to 9:00 pm; by Dr. Tana Bridge, PhD, ACSW, LMSW, ACTP; Professor, School of Social Work, Eastern Michigan University. Current research highlights the relationship between substance use, substance addiction and trauma. This presentation by an award-winning trauma expert will review events involved with trauma exposure, trauma specific symptomology, the impact trauma has on the brain and on coping and subsequent substance use, and how to aid individuals struggling with trauma and substance addiction. LOCATION: St. Joseph Mercy Hospital Education Center Auditorium (ground floor,) 5305 Elliott Drive, Ypsilanti, Michigan. WHO’S IT FOR: People interested for any reason, personal or professional – ALL ARE WELCOME! COST: Admission is FREE and open to all. No registration is required. A certificate to document attendance can be provided on request. FREE CE credit for addiction professionals is provided. SPONSOR: The series is organized by Dawn Farm, a non-profit organization that provides a continuum of treatment and recovery support services for people with substance use disorders. FURTHER INFORMATION: For information, please contact Dawn Farm: Phone: (734) 485-8725. E-Mail: info@dawnfarm.org. Web site: http://www.dawnfarm.org/programs/education-series.