STEP THREE:
REASSURE AND HELP YOUR STAFF WHO SMOKE
Undoubtedly one of the biggest barriers to universal acceptance of tobacco healing within the addictions industry is the high percentage of addictions workers who are addicted to tobacco themselves.
There are plenty of reasons for this trend. Many of us who are in recovery ourselves depend on smoking to cope and we view any threat against tobacco use as a threat against our own recovery. Tobacco is often viewed a “harm reduction” measure (even though is it more likely by far than any other addictive substance to kill us in the end). Staff who smoke will be afraid for their jobs if they smoke and can’t envision themselves quitting. Whatever the reason, your staff who smoke will be threatened by any talk of resolution to take action against tobacco and are very likely to consciously or unconsciously try to sabotage your efforts.
We were no different at Mackay Manor.
Paramount in creating a united front on taking action against tobacco is to reassure your staff who smoke that, although you want to help them to quit and heal, their recoveries and jobs do not hang in the balance.
They must feel that any action you are taking against tobacco is not being taken against them.
To help our own staff to recover, we again solicited help from Libertas and its founder, Murray Kelly, who provided workshops to great effect.
www.libertastobacco.com
There are plenty of reasons for this trend. Many of us who are in recovery ourselves depend on smoking to cope and we view any threat against tobacco use as a threat against our own recovery. Tobacco is often viewed a “harm reduction” measure (even though is it more likely by far than any other addictive substance to kill us in the end). Staff who smoke will be afraid for their jobs if they smoke and can’t envision themselves quitting. Whatever the reason, your staff who smoke will be threatened by any talk of resolution to take action against tobacco and are very likely to consciously or unconsciously try to sabotage your efforts.
We were no different at Mackay Manor.
Paramount in creating a united front on taking action against tobacco is to reassure your staff who smoke that, although you want to help them to quit and heal, their recoveries and jobs do not hang in the balance.
They must feel that any action you are taking against tobacco is not being taken against them.
To help our own staff to recover, we again solicited help from Libertas and its founder, Murray Kelly, who provided workshops to great effect.
www.libertastobacco.com