Finding Support Groups For Parents Or Families Of Addicts Near Me
American Addiction Centers: AAC has rehab treatment facilities across the United States. Each rehabilitation center is unique and are available to answer any of your questions about treatment options and choosing the best facility to address your needs. Call AAC today on .
Adult Children of Alcoholics: Adult Children of Alcoholics is a 12-step support program for adults who grew up in dysfunctional homes with alcoholic or drug-addicted parents. The program operates under the principle that family dysfunction is a disease that can affect a person, both as a child and well into adulthood. In addition to supporting adult children of alcoholics and drug addicts, ACA also provides support services for children who grew up in a dysfunctional home, whether or not drugs or alcohol were present.
It offers group meetings in person, as well as over the phone, online, and through Skype. It also offers myriad literature and resources on its website.
National Association for Children of Alcoholics: The National Association for Children of Alcoholics is another supportive resource for the children of alcoholics as well as parents addicted to other drugs. The organization advocates on behalf of children and works to increase public awareness, improve public policies, and provide adequate educational and preventive services. It offers a variety of resources on its website as well.
Smart Recovery Family & Friends
SMART recovery, or Self-Management and Recovery Training, is a secular alternative to Al-Anon and similar spirituality-based interventions. SMART Recovery Family & Friends is a science-based program for family members of people living with addiction. SMART Recovery Family & Friends has several meetings in many cities and uses non-confrontational methods to help loved ones cope with a friend or family members addiction.
Help Get Family Support To Deal With A Drug Addicted Or Alcoholic Spouse
Addiction can take a toll on any marriage. It can create a variety of problems for couples including financial hardship, arguments, trust issues, legal problems, and codependent behaviors. Loving a spouse with a substance use problem creates a unique set of challenges that only a person who has experienced it firsthand can truly understand. Support groups can provide spouses of addicted loved ones with the support of a group of peers who can relate to their struggle.
All of the support groups listed above provide supportive services to spouses and other family members of addicted people.
There are also supportive programs available exclusively for spouses, including:
- Recovering Couples Anonymous: Recovering Couples Anonymous is a support program that uses the principles of AA but is not affiliated with Alcoholics Anonymous. They provide support groups for any couple who is suffering from addictions or other dysfunctions that are impacting their relationships. The only requirement to join Recovering Couples is that the couple is committed to remain together, to work on improving their relationship, and to deepen their intimacy with one another. They are currently offering meetings in 15 U.S. states.
- Al-Anon for Spouses and Partners: In some locations, Al-Anon offers special support programs for spouses and romantic partners of individuals with alcoholism. Check their website to find out what programs may be available near you.
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Support Groups For Parents Struggling With A Childs Addiction
Watching a child suffer through addiction can be incredibly painful for any parent. Parents are natural protectors who are biologically wired to help their offspring and protect them from harm. It is no surprise that many parents with good intentions end up enabling their childs addictive behaviors when what they truly want is to simply end their childs pain and suffering.
There are many resources and support programs available across the country for parents of addicted children including:
Parents of Addicted Loved Ones : PAL is a resource for parents struggling to cope with a childs addiction. Not only do they offer face-to-face support groups across the country, but they have a wealth of online resources and educational information that parents can access 24/7. PAL helps parents deal with the pain of loving an addicted child and teaches them how to change the way they relate to their childs struggles. Michael Speakman, founder of PAL, states, When we focus on changing the way we help our loved one, rather than trying to change them, it gives us realistic hope.
Al-Anon for Parents: Al-Anon also offers support groups specifically for parents in some locations. They also have a collection of online support stories available on their website, written by parents of addicted people for other parents of addicted people.
What I Didnt Like
What I didnt like about the meetings was that cross-talk was not allowed. After a person shared, the only response from the group was, thanks for sharing. I wanted more than that. It would have been nice to hear suggestions for how to deal with some of the things we were going through with Jason to hear how others tackled the tough stuff. I left feeling something was still lacking.
Im a Christian. I struggled with the whole concept of a higher power. Bill Wilson, an alcoholic who started the Alcoholics Anonymous, was a Christian. AA began as a Christian ministry. In time, he felt it had become too exclusionary that claiming Christ as Lord was off-putting to non-Christians. In order to be more inclusive, the description of God changed to a higher power. It became God, as you know or understand him to be.
I get it. The idea behind AA is to help as many people as possible kick their addiction to alcohol. The change accomplished that by any measurement. I also understand that many people who come into both Al-Anon and AA come to know Christ in the process. At the time I attended, it became an issue I couldnt overcome.
Im at a point in my life now where I have a better understanding of AA and Al-Anon. And I agree entirely with the goal of an open tent to help as many people as possible rid themselves of the horrible disease of addiction and the damage it causes to the addict and their families.
Its a great organization that I highly recommend.
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From Recovery To Counseling
What Mike learned in his counseling was he needed to focus on himself to stop blaming others for his problems. Instead, he learned he was the one that needed to change. In the course of his counseling, Mike discovered he had a big hole in his life. He had all the money and trappings of success. But something was missing. He drank to self-medicate and try to fill that hole. God fills that hole for Mike now.
What he discovered after several years of working on himself was that the hole in his life came from hopelessness. He could not feel complete like he was enough. Mike said he had achieved the American Dream without self-awareness. He described himself as having the self-awareness of a gnat.
He continued with his counseling over the next several years. In the process, he learned what he called active listening. He took classes, went through twelve-step programs, and ended up at the Salvation Army. Initially, he counseled addicts and alcoholics. In later years, he ran their family education program.
That was the beginning of his journey toward starting the PAL Group.
Parents Of Addicted Loved Ones Support Group
The primary goal is to provide hope through education and support for parents dealing with addicted loved ones by offering confidential peer support. Other family members of addicted loved ones are also welcome to attend. Parents of Addicted Loved Ones is a national organization founded in Arizona by a Licensed Independent Substance Abuse Counselor and the group’s facilitator has been trained by PAL.
Some of the topics covered are addiction cycle, traits and behaviors, delayed emotional growth, the role of family and enabling behaviors. Meetings are 6:00-7:30 P.M. every other Monday here at The Good News Center, 10475 Cosby Manor Road, Utica, NY. For more information call 315-735-6210
For those who prefer the program is also being offered via Zoom. We ask you to please call 315-735-6210 to register for both in-person or virtual meetings.
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Healthy Help For Your Friends
Part of the reason Im writing this post about parents of addicted loved ones is to help those involved with addiction friends and family alike. If you have a friend whose son or daughter deals with addiction, I want to help you understand the battles they fight as parents. I want to help you understand how best to help your friend. Advice is not the answer.
We parents are doing our best to get through the day. Were trying to put our best foot forward, show you our happy faces and act like life is good. Inside, we are dying. Were wondering whether our son or daughter is going to get evicted from their house or apartment, get their car repossessed, get arrested or any number of other bad outcomes. Thats the life of parents of addicted loved ones.
The Ministry Of Presence
Dont tell them you understand. If youve never dealt with it, there is no way you can. The best thing you can do is just be there for them. Hug the mother. Invite her to go shopping, to a movie, or whatever her favorite thing is. Invite the dad for coffee, lunch, or a beer or golf, whatever his favorite thing is. Listen to them. Be present with them. Theyre struggling to decide what to do how best to deal with their childs addiction.
A good friend of mine who is a pastor calls this the ministry of presence. Just being there with your friend and walking with them on their journey is what they want. Outside of the ministry of presence, what parents of addicted loved ones really need is to know theyre not alone to know that other parents in their situation are dealing with the same things they are. Parents want to talk to people who can relate to hear the mistakes other parents make. Parents want to understand how other parents deal with it and get through the day.
They want hope. They want to understand better what their son or daughter is going through. Why do they do what they do? What causes it? How come they cant just quit? What causes them to lie and manipulate? Why dont they get help?
The only people who can offer this kind of help to parents of addicted loved ones are other parents of addicted loved ones. Its really the only way I know. How do you find them? What groups offer help? What are the options? Where do you find them?
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Pal Parents Of Addicted Loved Ones You Are Not Alone
When Deborah Capps of Advance, NC, was dealing with her teenage sons battle with alcohol and drugs over 20 years ago, support groups were rare although she attended one for a while, places to help her know she wasnt alone in her struggles to help her son were limited. Kevins drug problem started in his teen years and gradually got worse from marijuana, to harder drugs and alcohol. But with the birth of his daughter in 1996, we really thought he had conquered those demons. He stepped up as a dad and did everything he could to be what she needed him to be, recalled Deborah. Sadly, on April 24, 2005, at the age of 31, with his daughter away at a sleepover, Kevin, after a day and night of heavy drinking, died at a party, on a sofa, and no one noticed. I think What if they couldve done something to save him? Everyone was so out of it that they didnt check on him until it was too late, Deborah said. So when her church, Clemmons United Methodist Church, became involved with the national support group, PAL- Parents of Addicted Loved Ones, Deborah became a facilitator for the meetings. Her personal experience with her son gives her a passion to help other parents whose children are currently dealing with substance abuse. These parents are still able to help their child and we are here to give them the support they need to make it through this journey, commented Deborah.
Support Groups For Siblings
While it is common knowledge that addiction takes a toll on all members of a family, the impact on the wellbeing of affected siblings may be somewhat overlooked when it comes to addiction. It isnt easy being the sibling of someone with a substance abuse problem, whether its alcohol or drugs that they misuse.
Drug addiction and abuse can affect the lives of siblings in many ways. For some, it may put a strain on the relationship and lead to complete separation and estrangement. For others, a sibling may end up unknowingly enabling a brother or sister with substance abuse. Having an addicted sibling could mean another child is getting less attention or support from a parent. Many parents put so much energy into supporting and possibly enabling an addicted child that the other children become neglected.
Unfortunately, there arent many resources available exclusively to siblings. But most family support programs are open to siblings as well as other family members. Some of the resources available for siblings include:
Al-Anon for Siblings: Al-Anon understands that it can be painful and traumatic to watch a brother or sister suffer from alcoholism. They provide siblings access to stories written by other siblings of addicted loved ones as a means of peer support and insight. Depending on your location, they may have face-to-face support programs available in your area as well.
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What Does Pal Do
PALs free weekly meetings use an evidence-based curriculum designed specifically for parents by professionals in the treatment and recovery industry. Each session includes two important parts:1. An educational component that offers tools for parents to use when to trying to save a son or daughter from addiction, including ways to help them in a healthy way rather than enable their addiction.2. A support component, a time for parents to interact, sharing what has worked and not worked for them in their community.
Not only is the physical and emotional health of parents improved, but in many cases their adult loved one reduces or stops their misuse of substances.
Support Groups For Families Of Drug Addicts Near Me
- Access to licensed treatment centers
- Information on treatment plans
Drug addiction affects the entire family, from parents to children, brothers to sisters, and sometimes even close friends. While substance abuse affects each family differently, there are many common adversities among families facing drug addiction, including financial difficulties, legal issues, emotional distress, and domestic violence.
Loving someone struggling with addiction can be incredibly difficult, painful, and chaotic. Because drug addiction impacts the whole family, treating the addicted person may not, on its own, result in any lasting changes within the family unit.1
Support groups can be a vital resource for the family and friends of those struggling with addiction. Family members may experience a variety of emotional responses to their loved ones drug addiction, including guilt, shame, anxiety, grief, and anger.1,2 Support groups may be facilitated by a licensed social worker, psychotherapist, or addictions counselor. They will often include peers working through similar family struggles and provide a safe, supportive environment in which family members can process and heal any emotional wounds theyve sustained as a result of addiction.2,3,4 They can help validate these normal emotional responses and share what theyve done to deal with them, including getting their own therapy and setting healthy boundaries with their addicted loved one.5,6
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Support Groups For Children Of Parents With Abuse And Addiction Problems
Of all family members, children may be most impacted by substance abuse and addiction. Children of drug addicts often grow up in a chaotic world full of stress, traumatic experiences, and confusion.1 Drug addiction can take over a persons life and prevent them from being a good parent to their children. Children of addicts may be neglected, abused, ignored, dismissed, or fully abandoned.
Addiction can also take a toll on adult children when parents start abusing drugs after their children have already left the house and started lives of their own. These children may end up dealing with their parents addiction in a variety of ways. They may have excessive concern and worry over the parents condition and health. Some may end up covering the costs of living for parents who have financial struggles due to their addiction.
No matter the individual circumstances, addiction can take a toll on children of all ages. There are a variety of support programs and resources available not only to young children, but also to adult children of addicted parents, including the following:
Types Of Support Groups For Families Of Drug Or Alcohol Addicts
Several support groups offer services across the U.S. specifically geared toward families of individuals battling drug addiction or alcoholism, including:6,7
Al-Anon Family Groups: Al-Anon is a worldwide fellowship program for families and friends of alcoholics. The program does not focus on trying to get a loved one to stop compulsive drinking, but instead addresses common problems faced by the loved ones of alcoholics.
Nar-Anon Family Groups: Nar-Anon is a 12-step program for anyone who is affected by another persons addiction. Loved ones are able to address the struggles they face through a structured, step-by-step process surrounded by others fighting similar battles to provide additional support and encouragement.
Families Anonymous: Families Anonymous is another 12-step program for families and friends of people with drug addiction and related problems. Anyone who is concerned about the destructive behavior of a loved one is welcome to attend.
Learn to Cope: Learn to Cope is a peer support network for families affected by drug addiction. They offer local face-to-face meetings at several locations throughout Massachusetts, New Jersey, Florida, and Idaho, in addition to myriad online support resources and forums.
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