Meeting People Where They Are: The Intersection of Harm Reduction and Gentle Teaching
Meeting People Where They Are: The Intersection of Harm Reduction and Gentle Teaching
Speakers: Dave Lappin and Nathan Murdoch
In a moving and eye-opening session, Dave Lappin and Nathan Murdoch led a conversation that peeled back the layers on how we support people living at the intersection of intellectual disability, substance use and mental health challenges. Their session, “Harm Reduction and Gentle Teaching,” wove together storytelling, philosophy and lived experiences, reminding us what it truly means to care for others with dignity, respect and compassion.
This wasn’t just a theoretical discussion. It was a heartfelt invitation to see people not through the lens of their behavior or diagnoses, but through the lens of their humanity.
The Shifting Landscape of Support
Dave shared how their agency’s focus has evolved over the years—from primarily supporting individuals with intellectual disabilities in traditional residential models, to now welcoming people who often carry complex experiences with trauma, substance use and mental health.
Fifteen years ago, supporting someone who smoked cannabis or wanted a romantic relationship was seen as a challenge. Today, that’s the norm. As Dave said: “We’ve had to drastically change how we support folks, and more importantly, how we see them.”
The people they serve are no longer neatly categorized. They’re layered, like all of us. This has required a shift from systems of control to systems of care.
What Is Harm Reduction?
At its core, harm reduction is not about forcing change. It’s about meeting people where they are—emotionally, physically, and spiritually.
It doesn’t demand abstinence. It doesn’t shame or isolate. It accepts that people use substances for a variety of reasons—often rooted in trauma, pain, or disconnection—and it seeks to reduce the harm they experience, not the person.
Nathan brought this to life through stories and staggering statistics: In Canada, over 6,000 opioid-related deaths occurred in 2023 alone. That’s more than 16 lives lost per day—a reality we cannot ignore.
The power of harm reduction isn’t just in giving someone a clean needle or a safe space to use. It’s in offering relationship, respect, and reconnection. As one powerful video clip shared during the session put it:
“Harm reduction is the opposite of tough love. It’s love, period.”
Gentle Teaching: A Philosophy That Embraces
If harm reduction offers the how, Gentle Teaching offers the heart.
Gentle Teaching isn’t about correcting or fixing people. It’s about creating environments where people feel safe, loved, and truly seen. It’s about recognizing that everyone has the right to make choices—even risky ones—and that our role isn’t to judge, but to accompany.
“You wouldn’t let your child stay inside forever because they were afraid of the sun. You’d hand them sunscreen and walk with them outside,” Dave shared, quoting Dr. Adi Jaffe.
That, he said, is harm reduction.
Gentle Teaching and harm reduction share the same language:
- Respect
- Compassion
- Dignity of risk
- Relationship before rules
Why Language Matters
Words shape how we view people—and how they view themselves. Dave reminded us that describing someone as a “meth head” or “addict” reduces them to a label. Instead, we can speak medically and respectfully: “a person who uses meth,” or “a person navigating substance use.”
This is more than semantics. It’s about affirming a person’s worth. It’s about seeing their whole identity—not just their pain.
Creating Safe Spaces in Unsafe Systems
Nathan spoke passionately about the need to offer safe, trauma-informed spaces—especially when the system so often fails to do so.
Imagine walking into a hospital high, desperate for help, only to be turned away or judged. Imagine trying to make an appointment but being lost in a week-long spiral. For many people, that’s the reality.
At their agency, that reality is met with open doors, extra clothes in the office, and naloxone kits at the ready. It’s not enabling—it’s empowering. It’s saying: You matter, even when you’re struggling. Especially then.
Understanding the Roots of Addiction
One of the most powerful stories shared was the “Rat Park” experiment by Dr. Bruce Alexander. In it, isolated rats with nothing to do consumed drugs at high rates. But when placed in a stimulating, connected environment—Rat Park—they used far less.
“It’s not the drugs. It’s the cage,” Nathan explained.
Humans, like rats, are wired for connection. Remove that, and pain fills the void. Addiction isn’t just about substances—it’s about suffering.
What Now? What Next?
Harm reduction isn’t perfect. Neither is Gentle Teaching. But when practiced together, they offer something radical in its simplicity: love over judgment, safety over shame, and connection over control.
It’s time we recognize:
- That people who use drugs are people first.
- That not everyone will choose sobriety, and that’s okay.
- That one clean moment, one safe interaction, one compassionate conversation can change a life.
As Dave said, “Everyone who experiences addiction has experienced trauma.” That’s a truth we cannot unsee.
Let’s Keep Talking
This session was more than a presentation—it was a call to action.
To speak differently.
To support differently.
To see differently.
Harm reduction and Gentle Teaching remind us that when we choose love, safety, and relationship, we don’t just reduce harm—we create hope.