Reframing Addiction: The Crisis of Disconnection
April 30 @ 9:00 am - 4:00 pm
$150 – $225
Reframing Addiction: The Crisis of Disconnection
On April 30th/2020, The Attachment Network of Manitoba will be host to a ground-breaking conference that will change the way you think about addiction. For years, professionals have worked hard to help people with addictions with varying success. Although we have begun to move away from moral judgments of people suffering from addiction, our typical ways of viewing the issue have not served us well in helping those people whose lives are affected, and in some cases destroyed by addiction. In recent years, a number of people have begun to suspect that the roots of addiction may lie in trauma and disconnection. It’s no coincidence that addiction is becoming more widespread as we have become more and more disconnected from family, friends, and community.
Internationally renowned author Johan Hari, has said that “the opposite of addiction is not sobriety – the opposite of addiction is CONNECTION”. Mr. Hari’s message is a natural fit with the sponsor of the conference The Attachment Network of Manitoba, a not-for-profit organization that exists to promote an understanding of the importance of connection.
Professionals, family members of a loved one who is addicted, and society in general, must begin to understand the true roots of addiction if we ever hope to make headway in this fight.
About The Speakers
Johann Hari
Drawing on international research and diverse studies, Johann Hari’s latest book Lost Connections proposes a simple but radical premise: as depression and anxiety rates rise around the world, maybe we need to look at the causes of mental illness beyond our own brains. His previous book, Chasing the Scream, similarly penetrated our beliefs surrounding addiction. As he persuasively shows audiences, the cure is in solving systemic problems of isolation and poverty—and working towards making people feel they belong, are valued, skilled, and with a secure future. Hari’s is a campaign of human connection.
Hari is the author of The New York Times bestselling book Chasing the Scream, the product of his four-year, 12-country, 30,000-mile journey into the war on drugs. Called “breathtaking” by The Guardian, “gripping” by The Financial Times, and “riveting” by the San Francisco Chronicle, Chasing the Scream: The First and Last Days of the War on Drugs explores three startling truths: drugs are not what we think they are, and neither is addiction. Hari’s viral TED Talk—viewed online more than 15 million times—is a funny, fascinating, and moving look at the ways in which we turn to addiction as a response to conditions of isolation and disengagement in our lives.
Hari has written for many of the world’s leading newspapers and magazines, including The New York Times, Le Monde, The Guardian, the Los Angeles Times, The New Republic, The Nation, Slate, El Mundo, and The Sydney Morning Herald. He was a lead op-ed columnist for The Independent, one of Britain’s leading newspapers, for nine years, and was named ‘National Newspaper Journalist of the Year’ by Amnesty International twice. He was named ‘Environmental Commentator of the Year’ at the Editorial Intelligence awards, and ‘Gay Journalist of the Year’ at the Stonewall awards. He has also won the Martha Gellhorn Prize for political writing.
Michael Redhead Champagne
Michael Redhead Champagne has spent over two decades speaking out and leading by example. He takes a hopeful and solution-oriented approach to youth engagement, facilitation, community organizing, and mobilization.
In 2018, Michael received a Kids Help Phone Regional Volunteer Award & in 2017 was recognized with a Meritorious Service Decoration from the Governor-General of Canada. 2016 Canadian Red Cross Young Humanitarian of the Year and in TIME Magazine as a Next Generation Leader. Michael has also received a Manitoba Aboriginal Youth Achievement Award as well as recognition as a CBC Manitoba Future 40 leader, a Manitoba Hero, and a Future Leader of Manitoba. He has been included as part of the Bell Let’s Talk mental health movement in both 2018 & 2019.
As a founder of AYO! (Aboriginal Youth Opportunities), he is committed to a wide variety of community initiatives including Meet Me at the Bell Tower, AYO Politix, ARROWS Youth Engagement Strategy, 13 Moons Harm Reduction & Fearless R2W. He is passionate about mentoring young people, encouraging all to share their gifts and build their system literacy. He has appeared in various media platforms including APTN’s First Contact & has served as co-host for CKUW’s Inner City Voices for the past 5 years. Michael has served as president of North End Community Renewal Corporation, a board member for the Circle of Life Thunderbird House and Marymound Inc. In 2016, he served on the Bank of Canada’s #BankNOTEable Advisory Committee with the task of creating a shortlist of women nominated by the public to appear on a new banknote. His recent system work includes the Manitoba Child Welfare Legislative Review Committee, the federal Expert Panel on Youth Employment & with Kids Help Phone, both the Texting Advisory Committee & Indigenous Advisory Council.
Michael is known for his straight up and heartfelt style that will leave you moved, inspired and ready for action.