Registration Open For UCDD’s “Let’s Talk Stigma” Program Series

Upper Cumberland Development District opening registration for a program series that seeks to add a new perspective to the stigma of substance abuse.

Recovery2Work Employment Manager Mikel Miller said “Let’s Talk Stigma” came about through a partnership with the University of Rochester. He said the series is meant to be more of an immersive conversation than a simple lecture, utilizing art and audience interaction to push the discussion.

“Any opportunity that we have to be able to reach into a community and better educate them on addiction and the obsessive-compulsive components of addiction as a whole are always good,” Miller said. “I mean how we communicate with people and the words we use. And I sat in a meeting a few weeks and had to have heard them say ‘those people’ about ten times. But it’s not ‘those people,’ it’s us. It’s people.”

Miller said the series is for anyone in the community who wishes to get a better understanding or to see addiction through a different lens, including law enforcement, loved ones, and educators. He said if you attend at least one of the five events, you are eligible for a special “Training the Trainer,” event.

“And the easiest way to register is to go on to the UCDD website and if you go there and you go to the events tab, there’ll be a ‘Let’s Talk Stigma’ tab right there,” Miller said. “I think it will be three hours of time well spent for any individual who wants to attend.”

Miller said that program will provide attendees with tools and knowledge to teach similar programs in their own communities. The free program series kicks off on March 21st in Overton County.