TODAY SEVERAL MEMBERS of the clergy benefited from a seminar hosted by the Substance Abuse Foundation to apprise them of how they can help cater to the spiritual needs of the addict.
The seminar held under the theme The Clergy, The Effects of Addiction on the Person, Family and Society was held at Codrington College, St John targeting clergy, spiritual leaders, Sunday school teachers, and theology students to see how best to deal with the addict.
Director of human resources, communication and client development at Verdun House Marietta Carrington, who organised the seminar, said keeping the church informed was important because often times they are one of the first persons who get called in to a family members because something is going on in the family.
Meanwhile, clinical director of Verdun House Jacqui Lewis said, “The awareness that we are trying to put out there is that spiritually one of the immediate things that happen to the addict is that he or she loses sight of what spirituality is.
“In terms of the clergy, one of the things they like to do is to reintroduce as soon as possible what appears to be spirituality and it needs to be done with the awareness that addiction and recovery will be a process”. (LK)
