Strengthening Families to focus on prevention by using family bonds
By Kyle Carrozza, Staff Writer, The Times
The Coatesville Area Public Library will host the Strengthening Families Program over the next several weeks in an effort to combat adolescent drug abuse.
COATESVILLE – Focusing on whole family efforts to prevent drug use among adolescents, the Coatesville Area Public Library will host the Strengthening Families Program over the next several weeks.
Conducted by the Chester County Council on Addictive Diseases, in affiliation with Holcomb Behavioral Health Systems, the program teaches family communication skills, stress management, decision making, and peer pressure refusal.
Program Director Johnna Goodridge said that Strengthening Families, open to families with children 10-14 years old, is geared toward building relationships within families in a modern world where teenagers are constantly forced to make decisions affecting their futures.
“Adolescence is a really hard time; it’s very challenging. It’s not all unicorns and butterflies. So we try to make that transition through adolescence a little be easier on the kids,” she said.
The seven-week program opens with a family meal every week, a bonding that Goodridge believes is increasingly important in today’s world of two working parent and single parent families. The youth and parents then separate and work with trained facilitators. The kids participate in activities such as making treasure maps laying out life goals and learning peer pressure refusal skills more complex than just saying no.
“We don’t say to kids, ‘Just tell your friends no,’ because we know that doesn’t work. We actually give them road signs on how to go up against a friend who might be trying to get you to do things you don’t want to do, but you still want to be friends with them,” said Goodridge.
Meanwhile, parents watch videos regarding similar concerns that show how to properly deal with these issues. Parents discuss those topics after watching the videos, allowing them to learn what the fictional families did right and wrong.
Central to these lessons is the idea that a healthy family will help to make children make healthy decisions. While children are mapping their life goals, parents learn about how to support those goals. Stress management lessons include having empathy for parents who may have had a long day at work.
After these separate lessons, participants come together and complete group activities such as drawing family shields that highlight their values or family trees that recognize what they like in each family member.
“We try to bring out the positive things happening in their family no matter how much family struggle or how fractured they might be, we find a common ground for them,” said Goodridge.
Goodridge said that the program has been in use for over 20 year in 30 countries. She said that the program could be useful for all families as drug and alcohol usage statistics are similar for children across the county.
The program will meet Tuesday nights 6-8 pm starting Feb. 24 at the Coatesville Library. Free dinner will be provided as well as child care for younger siblings. Those interested can register at by phone at 484-713-1109 or online at chestercountysfp.org.
