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CFC#12020
CFC#12020
With help, these kids and teens can go from children at risk to children of promise.
Modern culture often encourages drinking behavior that is unmanageable and dangerous. So-called humor often involves humiliation or harm to individuals while they or their companions are drinking. Sexual behavior often becomes out of control and sometimes violent. Alcohol is a powerful drug and is not legal or appropriate for young and immature people. Sometimes it’s hard to determine whether your child’s behavior is due to normal developmental crises or if their behavior could indicate a problem with alcohol or other drugs.
If alcohol use is hurting your family, talk honestly about it. Emphasize the impact it can have on brain development for those under the age of 21. Parents can be the best resource for their families. Stay Informed. Be Open. Talk Often.
Your primary role as a parent is to nurture, teach, set limits and be aware of potential problem behaviors that may lead to a problem with alcohol or other drugs (See the paragraph above.) The role of parents in protecting kids from alcohol and other drugs involves giving a consistent, clear message about the difference between healthy and unhealthy behaviors through your words and through your example. The behavior you model to your children is extremely powerful and the lines of communication must always be open.
Talking with your kids about alcohol use, drug use, and addiction can be difficult for any parent. For recovering parents, conversations with your children or teens about drug use and abuse are even more complex, urgent, and personal. Here are some great resources to help your family start the conversation.
If you find yourself or your friends drinking excessively, be aware that this is likely to have a profound effect on your child’s future relationship with alcohol and your relationship with your child. If your drinking is causing problems in your relationships with your children or your spouse, you are strongly encouraged to seek a professional evaluation to assess not only your risk for problem drinking, but also your child’s risk for problem drinking in the future, often fueled by the chronic emotional stress of living with a parent with a drinking problem. You may want to sit down and read the Kit for Kids or make a selection from the Children’s Book List, and then discuss the messages. It may not only reduce the confusion and anxiety your child is feeling, but some of your own as well.
If you are concerned about your child, pediatricians, most school counselors and school social workers, and local treatment facilities should be able to direct you to a professional evaluator who can help you rule out a problem with substance use or explore appropriate treatment options. Do not rely on the advice of family members or friends unless they are trained to diagnose a problem with substance use disorder. Get professional help. SAMHSA (The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) offers a 24/7 treatment referral line The American Society of Addiction Medicine provides a directory of medical experts in this area. Consider attending the appropriate 12 step mutual support program meeting: Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous A parent, and other family members, may benefit from attending the appropriate family support program: Al-Anon or Nar-Anon. Check out Partnership for Drug-Free Kids for more resources.
The potential for abuse of prescription medicines has grown dramatically. The problems are found in communities across the country, raising the importance for families to wisely manage prescription medicines in the home, and to get rid of them as soon as possible when no longer needed. The higher vulnerability to addiction for some families increases the need to consider strong measures in the name of prevention and modeling good health practices. Learn how to safeguard prescription medicines while in the home, and the proper procedures for disposal.
While NACoA provides increasing amounts of information to help children and families, especially with the broad reach of internet communications, it is not feasible to provide needed direct services to children and families across the country and around the world. Therefore, NACoA’s approach to addressing family alcohol or other drug addiction as effectively as possible is to work with a network of relationships with professional groups who serve kids on the front lines.
Primary Care Physicians see children suffering from the physical and emotional results of addiction in the family.
The Court System sees the ravages of parental addiction to alcohol and other drugs in their courtroom every day.
Social workers touch every system that seeks to help children cope with a variety of family problems, many of which are rooted in parental addiction for many generations.
Educators may notice that a child is withdrawn or unable to do school work because of the chaos at home caused by alcoholism/addiction.
Early childhood Professionals see children from birth through age three, the youngest and most vulnerable population to be affected by parental addiction.
Faith leaders are often the first to be contacted by a spouse who needs help for themselves and their children.
Working in compassionate professions that touch the lives of traumatized children and teenagers regularly can emotionally exhaust and at times physically impact the best of professionals. Depending upon the level of daily involvement, these responsibilities have the capacity to even elicit PTSD-like symptoms, especially if you grew up in a family that struggled with substance disorders that created trauma in your earlier life. It is important for anyone working in these professions to exercise appropriate self-care, and if necessary consider attending Al-Anon or Nar-Anon meetings. NACoA provides a wealth of information for those professionals who see children every day: profession-specific research, kits, books, online educational opportunities, trainings and videos to educate and support those who are in the best position to identify and assist children who live with alcohol or other addictions in the family.
Our training and program resources equip professionals and individuals with tools and knowledge to help provide support to children and families impacted by a loved one’s alcohol or drug addiction.
The library of webinars provides an archive of critical topics on addiction, its impact on the family, children and the community. The speakers are all well-known and knowledgeable subject-matter authorities, providing key insights and information for the listener. The webinars range from 1 ½ to 2 hours in length.
The library of webinars provides an archive of critical topics on addiction, its impact on the family, children and the community. The speakers are all well-known and knowledgeable subject-matter authorities, providing key insights and information for the listener. The webinars range from 1 ½ to 2 hours in length.
This NACoA-developed kit provides all the tools needed to implement educational support groups for children of clients in treatment for addiction, for educational support groups and other educational prevention activities in schools, and for support groups and educational programs in youth-serving community based and faith-based organizations.
The Celebrating Families! curriculum is an evidence-based cognitive behavioral support group model written for families in which one or both parents have a serious problem with alcohol or other drugs and in which there is a high risk for domestic violence, child abuse, or neglect.
It only takes one caring and understanding adult to change a child's life.
When a child’s family struggles with alcohol or substance misuse/addiction issues, the most powerful assistance to the child can come from a caring adult in their lives. Often the child turns to a relative or friend of the family who has acknowledged in some way that they are concerned and available, thus making it feel safe for the child to talk. It could be the mother who is terrified of what is happening to her children as she watches her husband’s addiction grow more concerning, the grandmother who knows her son has a problem with prescription drugs, the best friend who is worried about the mother who routinely is drinking to excess and passing out before dinner, the older brother who works close by and is contacted regularly because no one picked up his younger brother from basketball practice, and many others, whom the child can trust with their “biggest worry.” The goal here is to put tools in the hands of these caring family members who take on the role of caretaker so that they might do the following things:
As a result of broken promises, harsh words, and the threat of abuse, children in many families dealing with parental addiction learn the “Don’t Trust” mantra all too well; silence and isolation can become constant companions. Perhaps the most important gift is the bonding and attachment children attain in healthy relationships with others.
In their book The Resilient Self, Drs. Sybil and Steven Wolin describe "Relationships" as an integral part of the Resilience Mandala.
In her ground-breaking research, Dr. Emmy Werner noted that resilient COAs often had a nurturing adult in their lives. Building trust is a process, not an event; time is the key. Simply caring about a child is all that it takes to start. Listening, regular time together, playing with, validating, respecting, and empowering a youngster will build a positive connection.
Jerry Moe, national director of the Betty Ford Center Children's Programs, often reminds us that "children don't care about how much adults know until they know how much adults care."
There simply can’t be resilient children unless caring adults lead the way. As bonding grows, a nurturing adult’s words take on added meaning and significance as the youngster deeply considers the source. A child may hear accurate information about alcoholism in a brand new way. Moreover, a kid can build upon his or her strengths and resilience as a result of the conscious modeling provided by that caring adult.
Whether we have children of our own or not, many of us can become a nurturing adult in a young child’s life. A youngster desperately in need of such an alliance is very close by. Downloading and reading through the Kit for Kids with a child is a great start to helping them cope with their situation.
Most people are uncomfortable with the idea of approaching someone about problem drinking. But when a child’s well being is at stake, you may be the one to begin the process of reaching out to the problem drinker.
The Road to Recovery series, provided by the SAMHSA Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, features eight episodes focused on the field of recovery. Click here for a special episode dealing with intergenerational issues, and the hope that early intervention can bring for years to come.
At times, the best efforts to help the person struggling with alcohol and/or drugs are not met with a willingness to acknowledge and understand what is happening to him/her and heart-wrenching deterioration in the addicted person — physically, spiritually and socially — continues. The increased concern, anger, and feeling of helplessness grows as the family experiences alienation from the person they love who, in their view it seems, is choosing a relationship with alcohol over one with them.
Watching a person struggle with addiction is incredibly painful. Denial can be strong, shielding a person from admitting that the addiction is affecting day to day living, performance at work, and/or the family. It is often thought that it requires significant challenge – losing a job, one’s family, a tragic accident or experience – to “wake up” a person to the truth that there is a problem. This epiphany, it is believed, results in a commitment to treatment and recovery. Unfortunately, the desperation at this level of challenge can make successful recovery appear insurmountable, and actually may be too late for effective behavioral change. Instead, structured family intervention with the assistance of a professional can help lead a loved one to accept help and the possibility of recovery, before such devastation occurs.
