Foundations of Family Education

Join the Caron Atlanta team in this half-day workshop that lays a foundation of education for understanding how substance use disorders affect the family system. The workshop includes presentations on the addiction as a brain disease, as well as experiential sessions on improving communication strategies and establishing healthy boundaries within your family system.

Who Should Attend this Program?

Any family member who has been impacted by a loved one’s substance use disorder will benefit from participating in this workshop.

Light refreshments and snacks will be provided.

*Caron Atlanta Outpatient Treatment Center is a healthcare provider, per CDC requirements masks are required. Caron cares about the health and safety of its patients, staff and visitors. The lifting of state and local mask mandates excludes healthcare settings such as Caron.*

Presenters:

Allie Sanford, CSAT, LMSW, C-DBT, Adult Case Manager, Atlanta

As an outpatient addiction counselor, Allie Sanford is responsible for providing individual therapy; facilitating group therapy; working with patients, their family members, and referents to create discharge plans; and coordinating with community partners. In this role, which she took on in 2020, she tailors her approach to offer her patients guidance and support to examine and deal with the issues they struggle with the most and that pose the greatest barriers to a healthy recovery. Before coming to Caron, Allie worked at an inpatient psychiatric hospital and in a residential addiction and mental health treatment center. She also volunteered at residential treatment facilities prior to entering the field. Those experiences solidified her passion for helping people to create the kind of lives in recovery that they really want. Allie is a licensed master social worker, certified sex addiction therapist, and is certified in Dialectical Behavior Therapy. She incorporates DBT principles and other evidence-based practices to help those suffering from substance use disorders and process addictions. She has a Master of Social Work and a Bachelor of Arts in psychology, both from Georgia State University

Samantha McInnis, Outpatient Behavioral Health Therapist, Atlanta

As a Primary Behavioral Health Therapist at the Caron Atlanta Outpatient Treatment Centers, Sam works with adults and their families, providing group and individual therapy, with the goal of guiding them to a healthy and lasting recovery and to restored relationships and communication within their support systems. Her foremost tool, in addition to a master’s in professional counseling, is her ability to connect with her patients, creating a productive therapeutic alliance that enables them to be honest and open. Sam joined Caron in 2021, with 15 years in the addiction treatment field, as both a case manager and primary therapist, working closely with impaired professionals and students, both male and female. She came to this work as a calling, starting graduate school with an emphasis on addiction treatment. She has been intensively trained in dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) and trained in brainspotting, a type of therapy that helps people process trauma. She has a bachelor’s degree in management from Georgia Tech and a master’s degree in professional counseling from Georgia State University. Previously, she worked in banking/trust services.

Sponsored by the generosity of Lauren and Jay Springer.

For more information, contact Cory Trevena at ctrevena@caron.org.