Family Recovery & Resilience Project
At A Positive Start CIC, we recognise that substance use affects entire families, not just the individual using alcohol or drugs.
Partners, parents, children, siblings, grandparents and friends often experience significant stress, anxiety, worry, uncertainty and emotional exhaustion whilst trying to support someone they care about.
The Family Recovery & Resilience Project is a free early intervention programme designed specifically for people affected by another person's alcohol or drug use.
Funded through the Family Recovery Initiative Fund from Scottish Families Affected by Alcohol & Drugs, the project aims to help participants develop practical skills for managing stress, improving emotional wellbeing, and building resilience.
What Is The Programme?
The programme uses a structured Clinical Emotional Freedom Techniques (Clinical EFT) regulation pathway based on the evidence-based model developed by Dawson Church and Dr Peta Stapleton.
Clinical EFT combines gentle acupoint tapping with focused attention and emotional awareness techniques designed to support nervous system regulation and emotional wellbeing.
Participants will attend a six-week group programme delivered in a safe, supportive and trauma-informed environment.
Who Can Attend?
This programme is for adults aged 18 years and over who are affected by someone else's alcohol or drug use.
You may be:
A partner or former partner
A parent or grandparent
A son, daughter, sibling or other family member
A close friend or significant supporter
You do not need to be in crisis to attend.
The programme is designed as an early intervention support service, helping people develop practical tools before stress and overwhelm become more difficult to manage.
What Will We Explore?
Throughout the six weeks, participants will learn about:
+ Emotional triggers and stress responses
+ The impact of chronic stress on wellbeing
+ Nervous system awareness and regulation
+ Emotional resilience and coping strategies
+ Guided EBEFT tapping techniques
+ Reducing emotional intensity linked to stress and overwhelm
+ Building confidence in self-management
+ Creating healthier responses to challenging situations
Sessions also provide opportunities for safe peer connection with others who understand the unique challenges of supporting someone affected by substance use.
Potential Benefits
Participants may experience:
+ Reduced feelings of stress and overwhelm
+ Greater emotional awareness
+ Increased confidence in managing triggers
+ Improved emotional regulation
+ Enhanced resilience and wellbeing
+ Reduced isolation through connection with others
+ Practical tools that can be used independently between sessions and beyond the programme
While individual experiences vary, the aim is to help participants move from feeling overwhelmed and reactive towards feeling calmer, more regulated and better able to cope with life's challenges.
Our Approach
Everything we do is guided by our trauma-informed and person-centred values.
We provide a compassionate, non-judgemental environment where participants can learn at their own pace and participate in ways that feel comfortable and safe for them.
Lived experience has shaped both A Positive Start CIC and the development of this programme, helping ensure that support remains grounded, practical and responsive to the needs of families.
Why Clinical EFT?
Clinical EFT has been researched in relation to stress reduction, anxiety, emotional regulation and cravings.
One of its strengths is that it provides a practical self-help technique that participants can continue using independently after the programme ends.
The skills learned can become part of everyday wellbeing and self-care, supporting longer-term resilience and recovery.
Location
A Positive Start CIC
Harestanes Tower
Ancrum
Jedburgh
TD8 6UQ
Transport cost support will be considered where access would otherwise be difficult.
Register Your Interest
Places are limited and allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.
To register your interest or learn more about upcoming programme dates, please contact:
Deborah J Crozier
Founder & Trauma-Informed Practitioner
E: info@apositivestart.org.uk
Funding Acknowledgement
This project is funded by Scottish Families Affected by Alcohol & Drugs through the Family Recovery Initiative Fund.
The pilot programme aims to support approximately 30–40 family members during the funding period while helping to explore the potential for longer-term community delivery and wider impact across the Scottish Borders.
