CCSA to host ‘Safeguarding Our Families: Confronting the Reality of Addiction in Our Community’ Sept. 18 in Teaneck.

“As the wife of an alcoholic I felt so lost and so alone. I had no one to talk to; I felt I had to protect my family’s privacy, and if I ever felt comfortable to talk about it, people didn’t understand what I was going through. When I found the CCSA support group I finally felt like I had a place to open up and get the support I so desperately needed. It’s so important for family members to have a place for healing and support.”

These thoughts were recently shared by a member of our support group for those who have loved ones struggling with substance use or addiction. There are hundreds of people in our communities who feel similarly alone, whether they be spouses, siblings, children, parents, neighbors or friends who feel that they cannot ask for help or support for themselves or a loved one for fear of the shame and stigma associated with these issues.

September is National Recovery Month, a month dedicated to celebrating those among us who are in recovery from addiction. This year, this annual observance coincides with Chodesh Elul and Rosh Hashanah.

The first step in someone’s personal recovery process, similar to the teshuva process, is “precontemplation,” where someone might recognize there is an issue in their life that is causing harm to themselves and people around them. They may not yet be at the stage where they are prepared to alter their behavior or address it, but they are aware on some level that it exists and understand it is negatively affecting their life.

On a communal level, most of us are experiencing our own precontemplation stage when it comes to mental health and addiction. We acknowledge that yes, mental health struggles and addictions occur in our communities and may adversely impact the people around us, even people we may know personally. We may be consciously aware of someone’s struggles, how this is impacting the individual, their family, even the community, or we may generally acknowledge the existence of such issues, but we do not understand their far-reaching effects and, therefore, do not alter our own behaviors when it comes to this issue.

Over the past several years, we have generally made great strides in the area of mental health and addiction. There are many wonderful organizations that provide support for people who need it, and there are many more mental health professionals in our community who specialize in gambling, sex and pornography, substance and technology addictions, to name a few. But if people are still too ashamed to voice their needs and struggles and will not get the assistance and support that they desperately need, then we, as a community, have not yet done enough.

At CCSA, a core tenet of our mission is to shatter the stigma of addiction, to break down the barriers to support and help by creating greater awareness and dialogue around these issues. We must have continuous forums where we openly and honestly discuss mental health and addictions struggles that are impacting individuals and families in our communities.

With each symposium that we organize, with each article that is published in our community newspapers, we are shining a brighter light on these topics and allowing those who are directly impacted to come forward. The more frequently we talk with our neighbors, children, community groups and others about these issues, the more we are normalizing these conversations and acknowledging the very real existence of these issues. We must demonstrate to all members of our community that internal struggles have a place in external discussions.

During the month of Elul, our rabbanim implore us to spend time looking inside ourselves, contemplating how we can overcome our struggles and embark on the path of teshuva, repent and reconnect with Hashem, our fellow man and our community. We also need our rabbanim and community leaders to make an additional clarion call to us as a community to take a closer look at what struggles are impacting our community and have continuous and open conversations so those who are affected understand they are not alone and can safely and unashamedly ask for help.

As a step in this process, CCSA is hosting another in our series of community educational programs aimed at eliminating stigma. “Safeguarding Our Families: Confronting the Reality of Addiction in Our Community” will feature subjects that are often “swept under the rug” and not spoken about openly within the Jewish community including sex/pornography addictions, gambling and substance use addictions, and trauma. Experts will discuss these issues that are so often treated as shameful secrets in our community.

In recovery, the contemplation stage marks the beginning of a person’s decision to actively make changes in their life necessary to overcome the challenges they are facing. In the preparation stage of recovery, an individual will begin to physically, mentally and spiritually undergo change, becoming more dedicated to their own recovery and journey. It is in the action stage that people make concrete steps toward eliminating unwanted behaviors and activities and are proactively choosing new behaviors and making decisions aligned with the recovery process.

While much of the focus of CCSA’s work is on substance use issues and addiction, it is imperative to reduce the stigma about all addictions and stigmatized issues in the Jewish community. We cannot solve these potentially life-or-death matters until we talk about them openly and honestly. As we lead up to Yom Kippur, all of us need to reflect on our own behaviors and attitudes and provide an honest accounting. It is time for us, as a community, to move from precontemplation to action, actively ensuring that those who are struggling no longer need remain silent by using our own voices.

Please join us Sunday, September 18 at Ma’ayanot Yeshiva High School for Girls in Teaneck, at 9 a.m. This free event is open to professionals and laypeople; CE credits will be available (specific certifications listed on CCSA’s website). Pre-registration is recommended at: https://www.jewishccsa.org/upcoming-events. For more information, contact [email protected].

Lianne Forman, a corporate and employment lawyer by training, is the founder and executive director of Communities Confronting Substance Use and Addiction (CCSA), the organization she and her husband, Etiel, founded in 2018. Through their own family’s struggles and journey, they founded CCSA to create greater community awareness and education about substance misuse and addiction in the Jewish community. CCSA’s mission is to eliminate stigma around addiction in Jewish communities through awareness events, support for families, and facilitating evidence-based educational programming in schools for students and parents. Visit www.JewishCCSA.org for more information.