Drug Education

In keeping with our “can do” reputation, when we’ve been unable to find the right kind of education and training materials on important subjects, we’ve created, developed and produced our own – which, in the case of our SESSIONS and Tuning In materials, we’ve shared across the sector and the province, with other agencies, community groups, law enforcement, educators, and others.

Based upon research, best practices and our experience over many years, drug education starts with a commitment to our clients to be both relevant and responsive in order to meet their needs and to ensure the best possible mental health outcomes.

SESSIONS is a drug education intervention that provides youth ages 13 to 24 with skills and tools to help them navigate a complex, drug-using world.

What happens at SESSIONS?

Facilitators use music, art, literature, media and games to create a safe, drug-neutral space to engage youth as they develop health literacy skills. The goal is to support youth to make informed choices about their own health and wellness.

Workshop activities give young people an opportunity to:

• Discuss and analyze social and environmental influences related to drug use including alcohol, tobacco, illegal and legal (prescription) drugs
• Use a variety of communication skills to gather, evaluate and explain information and ideas related to successfully navigating a world where drug use is common, especially nicotine, caffeine, alcohol and marijuana
• Describe strategies for attaining and maintaining physical, emotional and social wellbeing during adolescence and young adulthood
• Share and discuss the complex ways in which their own lives may have been affected by drug use
• Identify existing and potential supports including friends, family, community, and institutional supports (school, health systems, etc.)
• Develop trusting relationships with peers and adult facilitators
• Build health literacy, critical thinking and decision making skills
• Build resilience factors

Workshops

The program consists of ten, 3-hour workshops delivered weekly, bi-weekly or daily. Workshops are facilitated in collaboration with community partners and adapted to meet the specific needs of each setting. For more detailed information about how we can work with you, please email Danielle Sutherland, Curriculum Development Manager, or call 416-482-0081 x 265.

For more information, check-out SESSIONS on Facebook

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Tuning In: Talking and Listening to Youth about Drugs

We developed the Tuning In programs to respond to a need that we saw – to assist parents and professionals learn new and effective ways to better communicate with teens about drugs.

Tuning In: Parent Edition

Learn new and better ways to communicate with your teens about drugs. We provide lots of practice and supportive feedback from expert facilitators and a chance for families to share experiences and learn from each other.

A consecutive series of three, 2-hour interactive workshops for parents of youth ages 13 to 24.

Workshops cover:

• Effective communication skills
• Relationship building
• Youth brain development and decision-making
• Maintaining trust and rules
• Finding accurate drug information
• Managing your fears

For more information about Tuning In, check out our pamphlet.

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Tuning In: Professional Edition

We specialize in training frontline staff to communicate with youth about drugs in ways that build resilience and decrease the negative effects of stigma. We can work with you to develop and deliver introductory, intermediate and/or advanced trainings that are adapted to meet your specific needs. Consultation is also available by request.

A mix-and-match collection of 2 to 3-hour interactive training workshops for professionals who work with youth (in any helping capacity).

Workshops are focused on skills building and practice with feedback. These are adapted to meet the specific knowledge/skills gaps of each staff team and can cover any number of topics including:

• Motivational interviewing 
• Stages of change 
• Youth brain development 
• Harm reduction
• Drug effects
• Anti-stigma communication and more

For more information about our Training Workshops, please click here

Interested in learning more? You can email Danielle Sutherland, our Curriculum Development Manager, or call 416-482-0081 x 265.

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