Celebrating Families!™ Model

The Celebrating Families!™ program consists of sixteen two hour sessions, each preceded by a family meal. In each session, members of participating families spend time learning and interacting with others of the same age group. At the end of each session, most family members participate in a shared activity and learn how to interact in healthy ways.

The model is developed for children of alcoholics/addicts COAs and their parents, many of whom have learning differences or cognitive deficits. Celebrating Families! is based on recent research about brain chemistry, including skills, education, risk and resiliency factors, and asset development. Emphasis is also placed on the importance of community service and individual spirituality. Celebrating Families!™:

• Explores the four aspects of healthy living: physical, psychological social and spiritual.
• Incorporates healthy family living skills.
• Integrates parenting skills with strategies to break the cycle of addition.
• Utilizes materials developed for COAs with the teaching and reinforcing of life skills.
• Uses interactive teaching methodologies recommended by research on how the brain learns, especially brains impacted in utero by alcohol and other drug use.

It must be emphasized that this is not a treatment program for either the addict/alcoholic or family members involved in Celebrating Families!™.