Hi, my name is Lane and I am a Drug and Alcohol Counselor (Registered CADC candidate) in Portland, Oregon. I recently began working at a locally well-known treatment center as the Operations Coordinator, but was given the opportunity to facilitate a weekly group with our clients, and I get to choose the curriculum. This will be the first time that I have a group all to myself and have control over what the group is about.

This got me thinking back to my time in early recovery. I remember one of my biggest struggles was boredom. I had lost myself for many years in addiction, starting when I was 17 all the way until I was 25 when I finally got help. I realized that I had completely forgotten what I liked to do. The last time I had a sober mind, I was a teenager. It took me a while to go out and find new hobbies, and in the meantime, boredom often nearly got the best of me. I believe that many people who have struggled with addictions can relate.

In this group, I aim to address this issue by introducing my clients to music production. Music is a great way to express yourself, and these days making music is easier than ever thanks to technology. I plan to center my group around Koala Sampler, the award-winning music production app that anyone with a smartphone can access. I have personally been using Koala Sampler for years, and it’s still just as fun now as when I began using it. I have experience teaching the app (scroll through the photos for a screenshot of one of my tutorials).

I have big plans for this group, and starting it at my work is just the beginning. I plan to take the feedback I get from my clients, apply whatever changes I need to, and eventually offer this on a larger scale to other treatment centers, schools (middle schools, high schools), and even workplaces.

Many of my clients come into treatment not owning a phone. It makes sense for me as the group facilitator to be able to provide the necessary devices needed to use this software. I recently reached out to the developer of Koala Sampler, and he was more than happy to be a part of this, and he has agreed to provide me with free licenses to the software, not only for my owned devices but also for any client of mine interested in continuing the use of his app. He’s very supportive, and that is such an amazing offer. So it comes down to me being able to provide my groups with tablets that they can use while in group, which is why I’m here. I need to purchase ten iPads that are new enough and fast enough to run Koala Sampler flawlessly. I found one on Amazon for $120 that will suffice, which is why I’m asking for $1200. This is what I need to get started on my endeavor. Please help me achieve my goal! This is just as important as all of the other groups that are offered in a typical treatment setting, but is hardly ever addressed. Let’s change that together!

You can find a lot of my Koala content and/or my other music stuff here: https://youtube.com/@lnknmusic