The major message of the “Free To Be… You and Me” record, produced by Ms. Foundation for Women, was to inspire everyone, male and female, to achieve greatness.
The goal of Lipscomb’s new recovery group, Free To Be, is similar in that it inspires students to take care of their bodies, achieving wellness.
“Free To Be [started] because we realized there wasn’t a lot going on as far the drug and alcohol support was concerned,” said Andrea Mills, associate director of Lipscomb’s Counseling Center.
“We wanted to make sure students felt like there was something they could come to and not feel like they were going to get in trouble for admitting that they had an issue or problem,” Mills said.
Free To Be is a drug and alcohol recovery group, that also serves as a breakout chapel, where students can receive one chapel credit per session. Beginning in January, Free To Be meets once a week on Thursdays and gives students the opportunity to engage in a community that understands their situation and offers accountability.
The group is not just for recovering addicts, however. Mills said she knows students think they have to be in recovery to join the group, but Free To Be is for any student who has any struggle with alcohol or drugs and wants help.
Mills came to Lipscomb in October 2013 from the UAV Hospital, where she worked with emerging adults in the in-patient recovery program. She said students do not have to identify as an alcoholic or addict. The student just needs to see that they are struggling and want help. Free To Be offers a supportive recovery environment.
“It says recovery group,” Mills said. “But, basically anyone who’s said ‘I don’t want to drink’ or ‘I don’t want to do drugs’ can come to this group. I really think that that’s something that can be a really positive thing for students in this environment.
“It’s a college campus, and if you’re trying not to [drink or do drugs], then coming to a group that’s supportive of that lifestyle can be really helpful.”
Free To Be is led each week by George Snodgrass. Snodgrass, the head of the Amazing Grace Recovery Ministry, is 20 years sober from a narcotics addiction.
“We wanted to make sure that the person actually leading the group wasn’t necessarily a counselor, but somebody actually in recovery,” Mills said.
Mills said the group is very supporting and creates a unique bonding experience. Free To Be is designed to be a place where students “can share without someone looking over their back.” The group is currently averaging two or three students, but as it grows, the counseling center hopes to see student leadership emerge.
“Eventually what we want is to have this be student-led,” said Dr. Frank Scott, director of Lipscomb’s Counseling Center. “We appreciate Mr. Snodgrass very much, and he’s getting us started; but, if we have some students here who are capable of leading those [groups], that would be fine. We need more people to attend, and we need some leadership to arise from within the group.”
Scott is a professor in Lipscomb’s graduate counseling program. Before taking the position of director at Lipscomb’s Counseling Center in August 2013, Scott worked for 20 years as the director of Madison Church of Christ’s counseling center. Scott said he encourages students to get involved in Free To Be, but he understands that they take a risk by doing so.
“It’s separate and apart from the administration,” Scott said. “We try to make sure they know they’re not going to get into trouble.
“I can understand if students are wary for coming because, yeah, it’s against the rules to use drugs, and…they’re taking a risk. So we understand that, but that’s why we want to make sure they know it’s confidential.”
“Identifying themselves as saying, ‘Hey, I’ve been doing this thing that’s against the rules and now I want to try to not do it,’ and putting themselves out there in that way, that takes some bravery, that takes some guts,” Mills said.
“We’re asking them to seek [these] services and we understand there’s a little hesitation, but we want to offer the services regardless.”
Located in the basement of Elam Hall, the counseling center offers multiple support groups for students, as well as pre-marital and marriage counseling. Services are free for Lipscomb students, faculty and staff. Scott said the center is seeing an average of 150 students per week.
“I think students are becoming more aware of it, and that’s a good thing,” Scott said. “We want to do more things that are not just for people in distress, but more supportive type[s] of services.”
The Center hopes to see the addition of a grief group and co-dependency group in the future. Along with focusing on mental and emotional needs, Scott and Mills both plan to implement more wellness based, preventative programs in hopes of steering students away from the “stigma” surrounding mental health issues.
“We want people to know that, first of all, everybody, at some point in their life, will have an issue,” Mills said. “They [might] need help, or advice, or [an] unbiased sounding board…and that’s what we can be.”
Students who are interested in joining Free To Be, or who want more information about the counseling center, can contact Andrea Mills at andrea.mills@lipscomb.edu.