The stigma of addiction can be deadly, as the shame and embarrassment caused by others’ judgement will keep people from seeking the help they need. Often, we don’t even realize how our judgement of others comes through in our words and actions, and we don’t realize how we are impacting those around us.
We offer training on stigma awareness to help address our innate biases and help us break through our own stigmatizing thought processes, to help us learn to pay attention to our language and the way we are treating others.
Our next session on stigma awareness is in the planning stages; more information will be posted as soon as it is available. In the meantime, we invite you to watch the video from our 2021 faith-based symposium on stigma, in which two people in recovery share their experiences and advice on how people can make a difference. You can also some of the articles that can help you begin to understand the damage wrought by stigma:
- What Is Stigma? (https://nwprevention.org/what-is-stigma/)
- Battling the Stigma of Addiction: Words Matter (https://nwprevention.org/battling-the-stigma-of-addiction-words-matter/)
- Battling Stigma Begins w/ Our Word Choices (https://nwprevention.org/battling-stigma-begins-w-our-words-choices/)
- How Stigma Impacts Recovery (https://nwprevention.org/what-is-stigma/)
To schedule a specialized training on stigma awareness for your organization, email nwprevention@gmail.com.