By LACHLAN MOORHEAD
THE father tried to fight back his tears but he couldn’t.
The son he loves is seemingly addicted to drugs and he and his wife had nowhere left to turn.
That is, until they found Vision of Hope.
Vision of Hope is a counselling program, run by staff from the Hallam Medical Group, that started in 2013 to help people whose family members or close friends are battling drug and alcohol addiction.
When the father broke down at this month’s meeting – his first – the other participants empathised.
“We were all like you when we came here,” one of them said across the circle.
And they had been.
One by one the members shared their latest news with the group.
Some of the eight or so people at the meeting had been with Vision of Hope since its beginning, all joining in the aim of finding some type of guidance.
Family counsellor Bernard D’Argent started up the program along with mental health nurse Lyndsey Coutet, psychologist Stephanie Chu and GP Ariane D’Argent, and at last Tuesday’s meeting Mr D’Argent welcomed the newcomers to the group with open arms.
“You might not get all the answers but I think by coming here you will get support in the sense that you’ll know you’re not on your own,” he said.
“You’re able to hear from other people what they’re doing. No-one’s got the right answer and you can only try.
“But knowing you have other people supporting you… I always hear that every month.
“It’s what gets you through things.”
The following night the Australian Drug Foundation held one of its anticipated ice forums in Narre Warren, which Mr D’Argent urged the Vision of Hope members to attend and raise the issue of the stress of addiction on carers and loved ones.
“They (State Government) put a lot of money in to rehabilitate users,” Mr D’Argent said.
“A lot of the focus is on users. I think we’ve got a role to tell them how important you are as carers, how important it is for you to get support.”
Vision of Hope was first started out of a rehabilitation centre as a once-off trial with an invitation to continue if the participants felt they would benefit from it.
Two years later the group has roughly 20 members, with new participants joining every month.
“The focus was always on helping the person struggling with the addiction, they came here seeking help for the person,” Mr D’Argent previously told the News.
“As we went along, we talked about it and we realised that they were also struggling – you’re not born with those skills to know how to care for someone with an addiction.
“Because we had this family sensitive approach, if you like, we started working on them, giving them skills to better cope with the situation.
“There was so much focus on the person – there is quite a lot of services out there for the person.
“We realised that maybe where it’s lacking is services for the carers.”
As the Vision of Hope meeting broke for tea last week, one could see smiles on the participants’ faces.
Mr D’Argent said the meeting wasn’t just about the members reflecting and learning to cope with their heartache, but it also gave them a reason to smile – a glimmer of hope.
For more information or to join Vision of Hope, contact the Hallam Medical Group on 9796 5400.
