The Original Creating Lasting Family Connections® (CLFC) Program is a comprehensive, scientifically proven, 40-hour personal and family strengthening program listed in the Encyclopedia of Couple and Family Therapy and was listed in the National Registry of Evidence-Based Programs and Practices from 2007 through 2018, and is included in Health Canada’s Preventing Substance Use Problems Among Young People: A Compendium of Best Practices. The CLFC Program was recognized as a featured practice in SAMHSA’s Recovery to Practice Newsletter and was featured in the National Criminal Justice Association’s Justice Bulletin.

The CLFC Program builds family skills and knowledge related to how childhood experiences can influence our behaviors and beliefs as adults; the differences between thoughts, feelings and behaviors; the developmental stages of children; characteristics of healthy families; emotional awareness and healthy emotional expression; developing expectations and consequences in relationships; saying “no” to people we’re close to in a manner that preserves and/or strengthens our relationship with them; our experiences with alcohol while we were growing up; examining the differences between abstinence from alcohol use, drinking alcohol in low risk ways, becoming drunk and developing alcoholism; examining the possibility of drinking responsibly; the characteristics of positive, influential parents and adults; cultural influences on attitudes and behaviors related to alcohol use; how to recognize when someone may be having problems with alcohol (or other drugs); methods for the prevention of, intervention in, and treatment of the development of a substance addiction; how alcoholism affects families; and the view that any substance addiction (including alcoholism) is a disease.

The Original CLFC Program is a structured curriculum for youth ages 9-17 and their parents, guardians, and other family members to improve their ability to provide a nurturing environment for each other in a very effective and meaningful way. Participating youth and adults are encouraged to improve their personal growth through increasing self-awareness, expression of feelings, interpersonal communication, and self-disclosure. Participants are taught social skills, refusal skills, and appropriate knowledge and healthy beliefs about alcohol and drugs, which provide a strong defense against environmental risk factors that can lead to negative outcomes for youth. The Original CLFC Program also provides parents and other caring adults with family management, family enhancement, and communications training. All participants are provided opportunities to practice these skills in a safe, peer-group setting.