A workshop for queer, trans, and gender-expansive adults who want to explore their relationship with alcohol and other substances.

For many of us, substance use has helped us explore our sexual and/or gender identities. Queer nightlife has been sanctuary, family, and history. It has also been soaked in alcohol and other substances in ways that can be hard to untangle from community itself. Add the everyday weight of living in a world that hasn’t often made room for us, and it makes sense that substances show up as relief, as courage, or as a way to feel at home in our bodies. Whether you’re sober, sober curious, or simply want your use to feel more like a choice, this is a space to look at your relationship with substances without shame, alongside people who get it.

In this gentle, supportive, and direct 2-hour online workshop, you’re invited to join Em, one of our behavioral therapists at Room to Breathe, to:

1. Explore your relationship with substances with curiosity rather than judgment: what substances provide, cost, and where urges might come from;

2. Learn about the neuroscientific and cultural factors in substance use patterns;

3. Practice mindfulness and somatic skills to develop agency in your choices and values;

4. Be in community with others who are asking the same questions, without labels or verdicts.

What to expect:

• Psychoeducation on minority stress, queer nightlife history, and the patterns that keep use going

• Mindfulness and somatic practices to aid in reclaiming agency and choice

• Practical, judgment-free harm reduction information and resources

• Written and oral reflection, individually and in community

• To protect participants’ privacy, only the teaching portions are recorded. All registrants get access to that recording for 30 days, plus a follow-up email with slides and additional resources.

This workshop is educational and is not a substitute for treatment or medical detox. If you drink or use heavily every day, please talk with a medical provider before stopping, as withdrawal can be dangerous.

Cost: Sliding scale pricing, $40–70; choose the amount that fits your financial situation. If that isn’t feasible for you but you’d still like to join, please reach out to Em directly about additional sliding scale options!