On the Path to Recovery
18. September 2024Third-year students at the Primary School Teaching programme at the Institute of School Pedagogy attended a lecture on Risk Behaviour Prevention, where they had the opportunity to meet clients from the Centre for Children and Families ADAM.
This non-profit organisation, based in Slovakia near the town of Gbely, has been providing comprehensive support to men with various forms of addiction since 1997 through its accredited resocialisation programme.
The personal interaction with invited guests offered the students valuable experience and a deeper understanding of the issue. The insights they gained will also prove useful in their future teaching careers, where the topic of addiction, unfortunately, remains increasingly relevant. The ADAM Centre provides its clients with individual and group therapy, work training, supportive leisure activities, and essential assistance to their families. To ensure that the help is truly effective, clear rules are in place for participation in the programme, as outlined by the programme’s author, expert guarantor, and the Centre’s statutory representative, PhDr. Roman Božik, PhD: “The group is structured with clearly defined moral and ethical boundaries, and it places high demands on its members. It teaches and promotes positive behaviours and motivates its members towards a lifestyle that is incompatible with alcohol, drugs, or pathological gambling.
It consists of 10-15 adult men who join and complete the resocialisation programme on a rolling and individual basis. This means that the group includes individuals at different stages of the programme and with varying levels of experience in abstinence, allowing for the mutual exchange of lived experiences.”
Dr. Roman Božik emphasised the importance of prevention and early intervention for young people struggling with risky behaviour during a discussion held on 10 April 2024. As he added, “The meeting was extremely beneficial for the students. During the discussion, they heard authentic stories from four men whom the Centre is helping on their journey to recovery. The clients shared their experiences with drug addiction, speaking candidly about what led them to addiction, the mistakes they made, and how they found the strength to rise from rock bottom and strive for a return to a normal life.”
