TCC Students Launch Support Group for Addiction Recovery
TEXARKANA, TX – A new student-led support group is offering a confidential space for recovery and mutual encouragement at Texas College, addressing a critical need for individuals navigating addiction and related challenges. The group, open to all, provides a peer-based network focused on shared experiences and fostering hope.
Founded by students in the Licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor program at TCC, the club aims to provide a vital resource for those in recovery, those grappling wiht grief, or simply seeking connection. Organizer Sarah Jantz emphasized the importance of self-care, particularly for those in helping professions, stating, “In a helping profession, we do a lot to pour into others, and we have to be able to refill our cup.”
The group’s foundation rests on the power of shared stories and a commitment to lifting each other up. Member Angela Clark, who is recovering from 15 years of addiction, described the group’s focus on common ground. “I found out that I wasn’t just suffering from a drug problem. I had a moral deficiency,” she explained. “It was a spiritual thing.”
Clark highlighted the supportive dynamic within the group, saying, “We share each other’s stories, and that helps us be an accomplice in one another. We can rely on each other to make it right. We have each other’s back.” The group’s strength, she added, comes from the understanding that members have all experienced the challenges of addiction. “Just to hear each other, tell each other stories, that gives us strength and hope,” Clark said. “We thrive on each other’s message.”
Both Jantz and Clark work at Clearfork Academy, an adolescent treatment facility for boys. jantz expressed a desire to instill hope in the young men she serves, sharing, “If I can plant just a mustard seed of a thought that sobriety can be wonderful and beautiful, and that we don’t have to use drugs and alcohol or video games or porn or gambling to run from our feelings, [they can see] that feeling our feelings is a beautiful thing.” She hopes to be a lasting voice of encouragement, reminding them that “we don’t have to run from [feelings].”
