One of the unique aspects of the WISH Learning Centre is that women can be active in their addictions and active in their learning. Most treatment or educational opportunities require women to be detoxed and sober before they can enter the program. Many women are not sure they are ready for life without drugs or alcohol.
“Drugs help with the numbness. You have to have it to survive.”
Women devise their own harm reduction strategies that allow them to experiment with their own capabilities. They may cut down on drugs and alcohol for several days out of every week and during that time they try to eat more and build up their bodies. Using fewer drugs also means that women can do less sex work, and so have more time on their hands. They are desperate to keep busy during these times and they have turned to the Learning Centre for support and distraction. In addition, women begin to contemplate what else they might do with their lives. This can be exciting and devastating. Not being in a numb state also means looking at all the issues that brought them to the street and the feelings that go with those issues. On the other hand, women can begin to look at new possibilities for themselves. Sometimes they want to get on with their education and we set up individual learning plans. Some women want to share their knowledge and begin instructing or helping with the activities of the learning centre.
We recognize that this is a time of growth for women. Our role is support them on this new path and assist them to process their experiences with their personal harm reduction strategy. As instructors, we affirmed women’s courage to risk change. As a group we always tried to create an atmosphere of non-judgment so that women who had been boasting the week before about being drug-free would not be ashamed to come in if they were back using drugs. We also tried to have what we call Helpful Conversations.
We have talked about providing a non-judgmental space for women at the WISH Learning Centre, but a helpful conversation goes one step further.
Most of us are used to putting emphasis on what failed rather than what went right. We worry about failure, we analyze it, and basically, it gets more head time than success. A helpful conversation focuses on what went right, even if only one out of 20 things went right. This approach helps women to reframe their experiences and celebrate the smallest step toward their goals.
So for instance, Melissa comes in to the Learning Centre and says she managed to stay clean for four days, but then binged on the weekend and feels like she can never break this cycle. Instead of focusing on what triggered her back into using, we ask questions about her clean days.