Offering a unique approach to alcohol abuse, a new campus-wide support group is calling for moderation over abstinence.
PennMod — a student-run, staff-monitored initiative — began in September to address different levels of alcohol consumption, from moderate to binge drinking.
According to Alcohol and Other Drug Program Initiatives Associate Director Noelle Melartin, “it is an alternative to [Alcoholics Anonymous] in that it is a harm-reduction approach, rather than an abstinence approach.”
The program began after a Penn student attended a Moderation Management session in New York and returned with the idea to start a similar program on campus. Moderation Management is a program that uses a moderation approach as a “less threatening first step” to end the harmful consequences of drinking, according to the organization’s website.
Penn’s Office of Alcohol and Other Drug Program Initiatives also sponsors the First Step program, a personalized initiative that targets students who have experienced the negative effects of alcohol or drug abuse. PennMod, on the other hand, addresses solely alcohol consumption through a peer-oriented support system that meets every Tuesday evening.
According to Melartin, by offering a student-led program, participants can “feel supported and connected as they work on making and maintaining changes.”
The confidential support group involves a variety of students with different levels of “current and past drinking habits, but all group members share the common goal of moderation,” she wrote.
