CARES bringing best-selling author to county

Dubois County CARES is bringing national speaker and author Jessica Lahey to Dubois County in February.

A recovery and prevention coach, teacher and mother of two, Lahey will present “Find Out What Your Kids Already Know: Raising Kids in a Substance-Glamorizing World” for adults on Thursday, Feb. 6, at 7 p.m. at the Jasper Arts Center, 951 College Ave. She will speak to the county’s seventh-graders during the school day on Feb. 7.

Lahey speaks about the science of learning, motivation, engagement and substance abuse prevention, all in service to the belief that adults have the power to help kids become more autonomous, competent, connected and fulfilled.

Her first book, “The Gift of Failure: How the Best Parents Learn to Let Go So Their Children Can Succeed,” was a New York Times bestseller and has empowered many to strengthen home-school partnerships, support kids as they learn from their mistakes, and forge stronger, more trusting relationships with children. Her second book, “The Addiction Inoculation: Raising Healthy Kids in a Culture of Dependence,” is the culmination of her experience as an alcoholic with a decade of recovery, a parent and an educator for 20 years in the classroom teaching English, Latin and writing in every grade from six to 12; five of those years were spent teaching in an inpatient drug and alcohol rehabilitation facility for adolescents. 

Lahey has spent her adult life in conversation with adolescents and the adults in their lives. She trusts, loves and supports teens and their parents, and in return, they tend to trust her back. Whether she’s talking to audiences about “The Gift of Failure” topics – why kids need more autonomy, competence and deeper connections with adults in order to stay motivated, learn more deeply and become the best versions of themselves – or preventing substance use in kids, her focus is always on adolescent mental health and facilitating difficult conversations around these challenging topics. 

“Whether you are a parent, grandparent, educator, school administrator, coach, doctor, pastor or community leader – or any other adult in our community – come to this presentation,” invited CARES Director Candy Neal. “Lahey’s perspective and down-to-earth language are sure to change the way you look at youth alcohol and drug use, and will give you the tools you need to talk to the adolescents in your lives.” 

When it comes to substance use prevention, Lahey is all about evidence-based approaches. Research shows teens do not respond to scared straight and “just say no” messaging; worse, these programs have been proven ineffective – counterproductive, even – in  preventing substance use. 

Lahey offers evidence-based, effective learning and prevention resources that work. She helps teens understand how their brains work, how they learn and why substance use in adolescence is far more dangerous than substance use in adulthood, after their brains are fully developed. She offers information about the negative short- and long-term impact of addictive substances on the adolescent brain. She explains why we tend to overestimate who uses drugs and alcohol and why our misperception drives reality when it comes to substance use.

She offers concrete, practical scripts kids can use to refuse substances while saving face in social situations and adults can use to open up discussions about substance use with the kids in their lives. She helps kids and adults communicate more effectively by giving both groups language to prime the pump for conversations. Most importantly, she helps kids find the strength to believe that they are good enough, that they deserve to take up space in this world and be loved for who they are and not just who the adults in their lives wish they were. 

When speaking to adolescents, her goal is to give them a path forward without having to self-medicate their pain, uncertainty and angst with addictive substances. She knows. She’s been sober since 2013 and she’s been to the dark, scary places both as an alcoholic and as a mother of two kids with a heightened genetic risk for substance use disorder. 

Lahey’s appearance in Dubois County is in part thanks to a grant from the Dubois County Advocacy for Recovery and Prevention Council. Her talk on Feb. 6 will be followed by a question-and-answer session. Her books will be available for purchase and signing.