Speaker: Lerena Greig
Families are often the most impacted by addiction, yet are among the least supported within the recovery system. Many are left managing ongoing stress, uncertainty, and isolation while trying to help a loved one. This gap highlights the need for approaches that recognize family members as part of the recovery process, with their own needs, strengths, and capacity for change.
PEP Society’s Family Recovery Program was developed to support families in the early stages of understanding addiction and adjusting to its impact. The program uses a simple, accessible model grounded in the principle “Change begins with me,” alongside six core topic areas: understanding addiction, family recovery, personal well-being, values, boundaries, and communication. Delivered through both in-person and virtual formats, the program combines brief psychoeducational content with peer-based discussion to reduce isolation and build practical coping strategies.
This presentation shares how the program builds recovery capital across four domains: personal, relationships, cultural and spiritual, and physical. Observed outcomes include increased understanding of addiction, reduced self-blame, improved communication within families, and stronger connection to peer support. Participants often report feeling less alone, more grounded, and more able to respond rather than react in difficult situations.
This work demonstrates that family recovery can be supported in a way that is both structured and flexible, meeting people where they are without overwhelming them. It also reinforces the role of families as part of the broader recovery ecosystem.
Supporting families is not separate from recovery work. It is part of it. When families are supported, the conditions for recovery are strengthened for everyone involved.
Learning Objectives:
Learners will:
1) Define the role of family recovery
2) Explain the principle of Change Begins With Me and how it shifts the focus from changing the loved one to their own wellbeing
3) Identify family recovery capital
4) Describe elements of PEP’s programs
5) Identify and commit to one concrete action (what can we do?) that includes families in the recovery process
References
CHIME Framework (Leamy et al., 2011)
Recovery Capital (Cloud & Granfield, 2008; Best et al., 2017)
Stress–Strain–Coping–Support Model (Orford et al., 2010)
BIO
Lerena Greig has worked in the non-profit sector since 2007, specifically in the field of addiction and recovery. She has presented all over Alberta with her lived experience and advocates for change. In 2019, she joined as a Director of the Board for Our House Addiction Recovery Centre and in 2022, was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal. As Executive Director of PEP Society since 2014, Lerena oversees operations while also fulfilling the role of public relations and resource development. She is a trained facilitator and on the team for the family support line. Lerena is passionate about empowering families and individuals to take that step into recovery.