The Potter's House and Conestoga Church of the Brethren unite for seminar

Joel Jakubowski, men's ministry director with The Potter's House, is well acquainted with the many ways family members can unintentionally enable a loved one's addiction. "Some ways are overt like giving money (to the addicted individual)," said Jakubowski. "Others are subtle, such as not asking (the addicted individual) to make a change in (his or her) life."

Jakubowski will share his knowledge with those who attend "Enabling vs. Supporting: Understanding How to Best Respond to the Addicted," a seminar to be held at Conestoga Church of the Brethren, 141 E. Main St., Leola, on Thursday, April 27, beginning at 7 p.m. The free presentation is part of a series that has provided an average of one yearly seminar for the last five years. The event is appropriate for families, pastors, and businesspersons, among others. Light refreshments will be served.

Some form of addiction affects nearly 70% of families. "This is about enabling versus support and helping families to understand the difference," said Jakubowski, who noted that family members may think actions they are taking are helping the individual to gain freedom from the addiction, when they are actually helping to keep them stuck. "The biggest form of enabling is giving the addicted individual money and generally that is (portrayed) by the individual to be for something other than drugs," said Jakubowski, who noted that inspiring giving in deceptive ways by "pulling on the heartstrings of sympathy" is common. "The parents fall into the trap of thinking they are helping by giving the money, but the money is going directly to support the addiction."

Jere Cassel, pastor of Conestoga Church of the Brethren, said that the response to the seminars has been positive. He recently spoke to a member of the Plain community, who said that he and his family had been affected by the effort. "A father said he had attended one of the addiction workshops," recalled Cassel. "(The father told me) 'We got help for our son, and now he is healthy.'"

Jakubowski concurred that lives can be changed when families recognize the behavior pattern that is enabling and take appropriate action. "The addicted person goes into a place of denial (because) they don't want to believe they are (as deeply addicted) as they are," he explained. "Families also go into denial. They keep trying to provide care in hopes that it will pull the person out of what feels like a bad season, but it's generally much deeper than an issue of behavior."

Reservations are not necessary to attend the seminar. More information about The Potter's House may be found at http://www.thepottershouselancaster.com.