DENVER - ColoradoDesk -- Tough as a Mother, a public awareness campaign working to humanize and destigmatize the struggle of maternal substance misuse, announced the launch of "Tougher Together," a no cost online support group for Colorado pregnant and parenting moms interested in exploring and strengthening their recovery journey. Tough as a Mother (https://www.toughasamother.org/) was created with the goal of connecting moms to treatment and recovery support in their communities and the Tougher Together support group is the campaign's first foray into direct community services.

Tougher Together will be hosted by HardBeauty (https://www.hardbeauty.life/), a Colorado Springs-based nonprofit that provides substance use coaching and therapy for moms and youth with a mission to empower people to rise and thrive beyond their circumstances. The Tougher Together online support group will meet weekly and be led by recovery coaches who are also moms in recovery. Each weekly session includes mindfulness exercises, discussion on challenges and wins, coaching, and journaling exercises.

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"Women are most at risk of developing a substance use disorder (SUD) diagnosis during their reproductive years and as a result, pregnant people or people who may become pregnant are especially vulnerable to SUD," shared Kallen Thornton, Manager of Gender Responsive Services, Behavioral Health Administration. "From 2007 to 2016, seven percent of mothers who gave birth in hospitals had a SUD diagnosis. Mothers with lived experience tell us repeatedly that stigma, punitive responses in our health and behavioral healthcare systems, and fear of losing their children makes them afraid to seek support."

Tougher Together provides a safe, confidential space for pregnant and parenting moms to receive support, learn about recovery services, and find community from like-minded moms. The Tougher Together group coaches have the ability to link moms to additional support should the individual request help, but there is no expectation that participants escalate into formal treatment programming.

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"Tougher Together invites moms to meet in community, at the intersection of parenting and recovery without judgment, stigma, risk, or obligation," continued Thornton. "We encourage interested moms to carve out this time for themselves, whether joining sporadically or every week. With the online format we eliminate common barriers to participation such as lack of transportation or childcare. This is an offering that meets moms where they are."

Tougher Together support groups will commence meetings on Mondays, starting May 1 at 6:30pm MT weekly via Zoom. For more information, visit www.toughasamother.org/tougher-together.