HUNTINGTON -- Two women whose families have been affected by substance abuse will lead a free weekly support group beginning in January at the Barnett Center in Huntington.

The Loved Ones' Group is a seven-week program developed by The Counseling Center of Portsmouth, Ohio. It was brought to the Barnett Center by Huntington residents Cary Dixon and Margie Copley. Dixon's son has been battling drug problems for the past four years, while Copley has lost a sister and niece to fatal drug overdoses.

The women, who have been friends for about 20 years, said they grew tired of watching other families suffer from pain brought on by drug and alcohol addiction.

"I know how severe the problem is here in Huntington and just felt a need to try to help," Dixon said. "In doing this, it's also therapeutic for me. It's not a religious group, but it has a spiritual quality to it that gives me strength."

"You don't realize how serious the infiltration of drugs is in this area until you have a loved one who gets involved in it," Copley added.

Dixon tried numerous counselors to help provide support to her family and help her son before she was referred to the Loved Ones' Group in Portsmouth by a recovered addict.

"From the first time I went, I was floored," Dixon said. "It's a tremendous amount of support, but it's also educational in that it teaches you about the disease of addiction."

Dixon now has been through the seven-week program four times and says she learns something new every time she goes. Copley, who just completed the program for the first time, calls it a gentle exercise in tough love.

"I had this impression that I had to cut my son entirely out of my life, and the program has taught me that's not true at all," Dixon said. "What it has taught me is that you have to redesign how you participate in their lives if you want them to get better."

Ed Hughes, CEO of The Counseling Center, developed the program about six years ago in response to a wave of families looking for help for family members who had become addicted to OxyContin.

"We were getting questions from families about what they should do. We quickly realized we had no service to answer those questions," Hughes said.

The Loved Ones' Group focuses on family behaviors that often can enable an addict rather than help them, Hughes said.

"It tries to get families to worry less about the symptoms and think more about the cure," he said. "We'll see families come into the program who have given money to their addicted family member or helped them keep a job. But they're missing the cause of all of these problems, and that's addiction.

"It's the family that can suffer the consequences of addiction, whether it's losing money or taking care of grandchildren. We're there to support them when they decide that they are done rescuing."

Dixon and Copley will begin a new seven-week program at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 5, at the Barnett Center, 1524 10th Ave. The support group will meet at the same time and day for the duration of the program. Each week, the class will watch a DVD of Hughes leading a Loved Ones' Group in Portsmouth. A discussion segment will follow.

Participants are not required to enroll in the program or give any personal information. They also can skip a session if they want and re-enter the program at any time.

For more information, call Dixon at 304-633-9632 or Copley at 304-525-6484.

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