Healing Initiative
You may be holding more than anyone realizes. Trying to support someone you love while quietly carrying more than most people see on your own. Over time, that can become your normal, even when it feels heavy.
You don’t have to do this alone.
There is space for you here. Space to be understood, to rest from the weight you’ve been carrying, to begin feeling supported, and to connect with others who share this experience.
You’re not alone in this - we are here with you.
The Fresh Start Family and Friends Healing Initiative
is a supportive, structured program designed to help individuals who are impacted by a loved one’s substance use. It recognizes that addiction not only affects the person struggling but also deeply impacts the emotional, psychological, and relational well-being of those around them. The initiative creates a space where participants can better understand addiction, process their own experiences, and begin to shift from survival-based reactions toward more grounded, intentional responses.
Recent changes to the program have further strengthened its focus on creating a safe, welcoming space where participants feel heard, seen, and supported. It is also designed to foster genuine connection with others walking a similar path, helping reduce isolation and build a sense of shared understanding.
At its core, the program focuses on building awareness of patterns such as fear, worry, control, and enabling, while helping participants develop healthier boundaries and more sustainable ways to offer support. It emphasizes the difference between empathy and overextension, guiding individuals to remain compassionate without losing themselves in the process. Education is paired with reflection and discussion, allowing participants to connect their lived experience to practical tools they can apply in their daily lives.
The initiative prioritizes healing for the supporter through topics like hope, forgiveness, and letting go. Participants are encouraged to move out of chronic stress and into a place of greater emotional safety and clarity. Peer connection remains a key component, helping normalize experiences and strengthen a sense of belonging. Overall, the program supports participants in reclaiming stability, strengthening their sense of self, and engaging in relationships from a place of balance rather than crisis.
The Family and Friends Healing Initiative is designed to be accessible, welcoming, and grounded in care for everyone who comes through it. It runs two evenings per week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, for two hours over four weeks, making it easier to fit into real life. A sliding scale fee is available, and we are open to discussing financial support so that cost is never a barrier to getting support.
Our team and alumni remain here with you beyond the program itself. We offer weekly alumni support meetings and ongoing gatherings throughout the year, creating space for continued connection, understanding, and community.
You are not alone in this and you don’t have to walk this path by yourself.
The Fresh Start Family and Friends Healing Initiative
is a supportive space for people who are affected by someone else’s substance use. It recognizes how heavy, confusing, and exhausting that experience can be, and offers a place to feel understood, not judged.
The program helps participants make sense of what they’ve been living through especially the fear, worry, and patterns that can take over when someone you care about is struggling. It gently introduces healthier boundaries, more grounded ways of supporting, and the difference between caring for someone and losing yourself in the process.
At its heart, this initiative is about your healing too. Through connection, reflection, and shared experience, participants are supported in finding a little more steadiness, clarity, and hope so they can move forward with greater balance, no matter where their loved one is at.
Friends and Family Series Responses 2025
reported that they were presented with solutions and suggestions for their own healing
reported that they gained knowledge or insight into how the disease of addiction affects friends and family
felt the discussions and materials presented provided insights that have and may continue to help them
felt the program was worth the time and effort
In 2024, Fresh Start Recovery's Family and Friends: Coming Together
supported
people
with a
completion rate
on their personal healing journey
2026 Series Dates:
1st Session Thursday May 14th – Thursday June 11th
2nd Session Thursday June 25th – July 23rd
For More Information and Registration:
Contact our Team:
Email:
familyandfriends@freshstartrecovery.ca
Phone:
(403) 387-6266