Oklahoma is hardly a hot spot for my work and that is not to say that it isn’t needed but it’s not a location that I’ve spent a great deal of time in. Although I have been before and will be back in the Tulsa area in January. I was invited to speak several months ago by the Choctaw Nation at their annual conference being held in Durant, Oklahoma.
This was a rather large conference that brought workers in from several different parts of the Oklahoma. This conference included healthcare professionals, social workers, therapist, law-enforcement agents and more. I have found that in certain areas stigma relating to addiction is higher than others. This doesn’t mean if you live in a big city there is less stigma, by the way. It’s really case by case but in places like Oklahoma where treatment services are far less than other parts of the country stigma can be high and this is do to older belief systems. These older belief systems and thoughts or ideas behind addiction are removed when people like myself come in and share their experience and the doctors who share the scientific findings surrounding addiction it only helps reenforce these new types of thinking we are really trying to accomplish in the general public.
I delivered my stigma keynote and followed it up with a Q & A breakout session afterward. If you’ve been following me then you know Q & A is always my favorite. Especially when we can touch on things like MAT (Medically Assisted Treatment) or safe injection sites. I find often that people just need to be guided in understanding why some of these things are necessary and should not be frowned upon. Once they are given a fresh perspective or outlook they are able to see a different way and adopt a new belief system that gets us closer to breaking stigma walls and getting addicts more efficient help.
I need to say thank you to Choctaw Nation, I am so honored to have spoken at this years conference! I’m looking forward to working with you all in the future!