Our featured service this month is become, a self-guided online program to support the wellbeing of adults who have experienced trauma and use alcohol or other substances.
“Not everyone who has experienced trauma has an issue with substance use, and not everyone who has an issue with substance use has experienced trauma. Yet there is a strong connection between the two.”
– become
About become
The become program was created by researchers and clinicians from the Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use at the Sydney University and The Login Lab from the Priority Research Centre for Brain and Mental Health at the University of Newcastle. It aims to support people, aged over 18yrs, who have experienced trauma in their life and who use alcohol or other drugs.
become uses a narrative approach across four modules to build on strengths and teach practical skills for health and wellbeing. It focuses on personal growth, recovery, and positivity, with guidance from users’ own values, experiences and strengths. The program also helps users to think about and reflect on what they want to achieve at different points throughout the program.
Each module in the become program offers support and information about substance use and trauma, containing new ideas, information and techniques for users. At no point are users asked to provide details on their traumatic events, or exposed to other stories of traumatic events. Users can move through the modules at their own pace, and revisit them at any time or save activities for later.
Modules 1 and 2 provide information and education about common experiences following trauma and how this might impact on users’ alcohol and other drug use. The interactive content and activities follow the stories of characters based on real life case studies.
Modules 3 and 4 offer gentle activities, psychological techniques, and symptom management to help users in their daily life. These focus on building users supports and working towards a plan for long term recovery.
What does become offer?
become’s main offering is the free, self-guided program, comprised of four interactive modules, which includes;
- Information about trauma, substance use, and how the two can be connected.
- Stories of characters with similar experiences, offering an opportunity to connect and reflect.
- Opportunities for reflection, re-framing and journaling to re-shape users own stories.
- Strategies, tools and techniques to support health and wellbeing.
- Links to more resources, such as suggested books.
- Option to print some activities or save them to form a ‘toolkit’.
Who is become for?
become is designed for Australian adults aged over 18 years who have experienced trauma in their life and who use alcohol or other substances.
Benefits of become
become is unique in that is focus on both trauma and substance use problems at the same time, recognising the strong connection between the two.
This program focuses on providing a non-confrontational, non-judgemental space, supporting users to process their experiences without guilt or trauma and choose their own treatment pathways. It is completely self-guided with users able to access at any time, from any place and choose their own pathways.
How can Health Practitioners use become?
Health practitioners can recommend become either as a standalone option or alongside ongoing care. It can support clients who are not ready for, unable to access, or waiting for face‑to‑face services, and can also be used between sessions to reinforce reflection, strengths‑based skill building, and recovery planning.
Is there a cost to use become?
There is no cost to access or use become.
How to access become?
The become program and resources are available online at https://become.cracksintheice.org.au/.
To register for the program users are required to provide their first and last name, email address, and create a password.
As the program is publicly accessible as part of a research study participants may be asked how they use the site and to provide feedback so researchers can make improvements to the program.
become Research and Evaluation
All four become modules have been informed by trauma and substance use research. It is underpinned by research about the importance of peoples’ stories, and utilises evidence-based techniques including narrative therapy, art therapy and journaling.
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