What is Healing Spirits? Who can be a member of Healing Spirits? What does Healing Spirits do?
Healing Spirits is an aftercare recovery group of the Peaceful Spirit Treatment Center. Currently, Peaceful Spirit is comprised of a 60-day residential treatment program, an outpatient program and a substance-monitoring program. The mission of Peaceful Spirit is to provide care and education to those struggling with addiction issues, to promote the dignity of each client while supporting healthy lifestyles and to create a community dedicated to sobriety and recovery. Peaceful Spirit is one of several programs within the Southern Ute Community Action Programs, Inc. (SUCAP). SUCAP will celebrate its 50th anniversary this year.
People are generally referred to Peaceful Spirit only when an addictive relationship to alcohol and/or drugs develops. Thus, the main purpose of the 60-day intensive residential treatment program is to educate people and provide them with skills to change their behavior. This is much easier said than done. The recovery process is multi-layered and is known to reveal underlying behaviors that have developed or been reinforced due to alcohol and/or drugs.
Because the journey of recovery is so complex, and because there tends to be a stigma associated with addiction and recovery, the need for a recovery support group became apparent.
Currently, Healing Spirits operates as a volunteer program. The Intake/Aftercare Coordinator of Peaceful Spirit, Esther Belin, facilitates community ideas into reality. Community members are the force behind the Healing Spirits programming. Thus, anyone can be a Healing Spirits member – and anyone can create an event. If the idea is a family-oriented, sober event that creates community health – Healing Spirits supports it.
The Healing Spirits model of recovery includes the effects of Historical Trauma and Loss suffered by indigenous peoples. Although many times the effects are displayed as drug and alcohol addiction, grief, anger and trauma also cause people to struggle.
We also choose to celebrate the strengths of our community. Yes, we are a small movement. yes, we do stumble. Yes, we sometimes walk in the wrong direction. And most definitely, yes, we ask for grace as we move forward – healing our own soul wounds. Yes, we can also use help. Yes, we function much better under the guidance of loving-kindness.
Lastly, Healing Spirits thanks everyone involved in the movement – from conception to completion of an idea – from kind words to kindly lending a helping hand.
Recently, the Celebrating Healthy Communities Coalition awarded Healing Spirits with recognition for our events in April that supported National Poetry Month and Alcohol Awareness – the Journey of Healing Panel, the Poetry Slam and the Children’s Powwow. Please celebrate with us!
For more information on our movement, please call 970-563-4555.