Beth Syverson

Beth Syverson shares her personal story of addiction - how it started, how it progressed, and how she recovered from it. And she will share (with his blessing) her 18-year-old son's ongoing struggle with substance use. Beth and her son created Safe Home Podcast last August so they can help other teens and their families who are struggling with addiction. They are very open about their challenges in order to help destigmatize addiction in our culture. This workshop is useful for anyone who struggles with any kind of addiction, or anyone who wants to support someone in their family or circle of friends who is struggling with addiction.

Beth presented a four-week workshop for parents of addicted kids, along with life coach Heather Ross. We discussed the CRAFT (Community Reinforcement And Family Training) Approach and how it's helped in our own families. I specifically presented about Understanding the Behaviors of our addicted teens. People use their substance of choice for a reason -- and it's almost always because that behavior is getting reinforced positively. And I also presented about Shame from the parent's perspective. I taught how parents can reduce their own shame about their parenting choices or about their child; and how their own personal growth around shame will help their child release their own shame.

I presented an hour-long talk about my family's journey with adoption and addiction, followed by Q&A.