A Positive Start CIC · SFAD-Funded Therapeutic Pilot
Family Recovery & Resilience
A free, six-week, trauma-aware and person-centred therapeutic group programme for adults aged 18 and over who have been affected by another person's alcohol or drug use.
The programme focuses on the individual and their own experiences, combining nervous system understanding, Clinical Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT).
Through an integrated bottom-up and top-down approach, participants are supported to understand their stress responses, work with difficult emotions and make sense of their experiences.
Referrals OpenA Positive Start CIC has received £5,000 in pilot funding from Scottish Families Affected by Alcohol & Drugs (SFAD) to support delivery of this programme.
Programme information
Six weekly sessions: Tuesdays, 6:00–8:00 pm.
Location: A Positive Start CIC, Harestanes Tower, Harestanes Visitor Centre, Ancrum, Jedburgh, TD8 6UQ.
Cost: Fully funded – free to participants.
Group size: Up to six adults per group.
Initial pilot: Three six-week groups, offering up to 18 funded places.
Places and start dates will be confirmed following a brief suitability conversation and according to group availability.
Explore how prolonged stress and difficult experiences can affect our nervous system and emotional responses.
Using accessible tools including the Window of Tolerance, Polyvagal Theory as an explanatory framework, fight, flight, freeze and shutdown responses, and the Subjective Units of Distress (SUD) scale, participants develop greater awareness of their own stress responses.
Clinical Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) offer a structured, body-based approach to supporting stress reduction and emotional processing.
Participants will have opportunities to explore their emotional and physiological responses and practise EFT in a supportive environment. All exercises are optional and adapted to individual needs.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) provides a structured therapeutic approach to understanding the relationships between our thoughts, beliefs, emotions and behaviours.
Participants are supported to explore the meanings they may have attached to difficult experiences, recognise patterns in their responses and consider alternative perspectives.
Our small group setting offers opportunities for reflection, shared understanding and connection with others who may have experienced similar challenges.
Participation is voluntary, with respect for individual boundaries, privacy and choice. There is no pressure to disclose personal experiences within the group.
Who might benefit?
Family Recovery & Resilience may be suitable for adults experiencing prolonged stress, anxiety, emotional distress, reduced self-confidence, self-criticism or other psychological difficulties associated with another person's alcohol or drug use.
The programme offers an opportunity to focus on their own emotional wellbeing and therapeutic recovery, rather than attempting to change or manage another person's behaviour.
A brief suitability conversation will take place before a place is offered to ensure that group participation is appropriate for the individual's needs.
Referrals and expressions of interest
We warmly invite organisations, professionals and individuals to express an interest in our funded Family Recovery & Resilience pilot.
If you support adults who may benefit from this programme, we would welcome your referrals.
Please complete our online expression of interest form using the link below.
Register Your Interest →This programme is for adults aged 18 and over and is separate from our Whole Family Support Fund counselling referral pathway. Participation is subject to suitability and group availability. The programme is not a substitute for crisis intervention or individual therapeutic support where this is required.