Free AOD sessions for Limestone Coast residents

An award-winning free course for families supporting someone with a drug or alcohol dependency will run in the Limestone Coast for the first time later this year.

Brought to the region by Substance Misuse Limestone Coast (SMLC), Stepping Stones is an intensive four-day course run by a skilled Family Drug Support Group Leader.

SMLC Project Coordinator Sophie Bourchier said the therapeutic course aims to increase confidence and competence around substance use in family units.

"It really helps families to be able to manage themselves and their relationships with their family member or friend who is using," she said.
“It will be a safe space to get a better understanding of what people are going through, come away equipped with better self-care skills and also hear from other people in similar situations.

"We thought that it would be a great course to bring to our region to see whether we could support families better and in a way they can take home to continue their support."

It’s the first time Stepping Stones has been run in regional South Australia for nearly 10 years.

Earlier this year, SMLC was awarded Federal funding for the next three years.

Into the future, Ms Bourchier said the group were looking at ways they could help bridge the gap in local services.

“The aim is to utilise our funding to bring programs or courses to the region that other agencies are not funded for or don’t have the staffing to accommodate,” she said.

The course is funded by the Department of Human Services and will be run in Mount Gambier over two weekends in November and December this year.

Previous participants of the course had left overwhelmingly positive feedback, Ms Bourchier said.

“The testimonials speak of changes in family dynamics, a deeper understanding of what people are experiencing and also use words such as ‘life-changing’,” she said.

Ms Bourchier asked for any interested community members to contact her by November 20 to register, saying space is limited.

“We only have room for 16 people from across the Limestone Coast region but if there is the demand for it, we will certainly look at running the course again.”