Alcohol Program helps students quit

By Shannon Curley
Collegian Staff
September 26, 2007

If the past can be used as an indicator, this year 1,700 college students will lose their lives in an alcohol related, incident based on numbers from The National Institution for Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.

More than 696,000 students between the ages of 18 to 24 will be assaulted by another student who has been drinking. While any substance abuse is a clear problem, there is a distinction drawn between substance abuse and substance addiction.

According to the Department of Health and Human Services, “drug abuse is a voluntary activity, but drug addiction is a compulsion. A drug abuser can choose whether or not to use a drug. People who are addicted, by contrast, have for all intents and purposes lost their free will to decide whether or not to use drugs.”

The latest program being offered by La Salle’s counseling center is a support group focused on helping people recovering from substance abuse and addiction to alcohol and other drugs. The group meets in the counseling center in the McShain building at 5 p.m. on Mondays.

According to Brother Edward Conway F.S.C., counselor/educator of alcohol and other drug problems, this is not the first time La Salle has tried to start a group like this. This year, meetings are run informally, with no set structure, allowing anyone present to bring up topics and questions.

Conway noted that the members of the group are taking a big step, and he admires their courage. It is not uncommon for people to experience loneliness when trying to maintain sobriety. This group offers students a chance to gain support from people who are experiencing similar problems.

“There is a stigma in society for those who are addicted to any kind of substance,” Conway said. “They are taking a chance, but they do so out of more of a need to protect their sobriety than to protect their identity. The amount of courage these students have is outstanding.”

Although Conway acknowledged that he would like to see that stigma erased, he and the other coordinator, Kate Ward-Guas, this problem took into account when organizing the group. Everything, down to the time the meeting is held, was considered.

“If you look at the time, the campus is pretty dead around then. Day classes are over and night classes haven’t started yet,” Ward-Guas said.

“It’s the pre-dinner hour. Our appointment time ends at 4:30, so not even people for regular counseling sessions will be in the building yet.”

Conway and Ward-Guas also stressed the confidentiality of the meetings. Not only are the two of them bound to keep group members identities a secret, but the members themselves also promise to guard each other’s anonymity. However, confidentiality goes beyond not releasing names.

“We won’t tell you gender, ages or numbers. The only thing we will say is that they are all students,” Conway said.

The program is geared toward college students, and according to Ward-Guas, is not an uncommon school-based model. One unique aspect of this particular group that has struck her, however, is its openness.

“There was a definite decision early on that they would even be willing to accept people into the group who are still struggling with their addiction. It’s very generous and unusual,” Ward-Guas said.

curleys1@lasalle.edu