Overall, a successful parenting plan requires attention to detail and a willingness to work together to create a plan that benefits everyone involved. By putting in the effort upfront, you can set your family up for success and ensure that your children feel supported and loved by both parents. Regardless of each individual’s unique situation, addiction should not inhibit a parent from establishing and enjoying a healthy relationship with their child.
But when problems mount up, it can be more difficult for parents to cope – particularly if they are isolated or lack support. However, parents and carers who have a substance use problem can have chaotic, unpredictable lifestyles and may struggle to recognise and meet their children’s needs. In homes impacted by addiction, children frequently take on adult-like responsibilities.
“You have children sometimes at the age of 8 or 10 where they’re cooking, they’re cleaning, they’re taking care of younger siblings,” says Collins. “And those responsibilities end up doing some of the damage to children because those are roles that typically are not held by children. They’ve not had the luxury to just be silly.” In families dealing with addiction, Collins says there’s a phenomenon that happens called ‘parentification’ where children start being caregivers rather than receiving care. This adult-child collaborative coloring page helps families have relaxed time together. Resources and support for families struggling with a parent’s addiction. Immediate support for families where there is parental substance use problem should involve setting pragmatic, realistic and timely goals which focus on solutions rather than problems.
● National Association for Children of Addiction or NACoA offers a range of resources about the impact of alcohol and drug abuse on children and families. The impact of parental substance use problems varies according to each child’s health, stage of development, personality and relationship with their family. Most parents and carers who drink alcohol or use drugs do so in moderation, which doesn’t present an increased risk of harm to their children (Cleaver, Unell and Aldgate, 2011).
Rehab is an ongoing process that may need to be reinforced by attending regular meetings in a rehab group. Any effort to regain custody of a child will require a long, sustained, and demonstrable period of sobriety, especially after the risk of losing custody due to substance abuse. However, this does not mean that the Court will bar the parent struggling with alcoholism from having any contact with their child. Even if the Court awards sole legal and physical custody to the concerned party, it could grant conditional visitation for the parent with the Alcohol Use Disorder. The determining factor will be whether the addicted parent can ensure sobriety and commitment to recovery before and during any visitation.
The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) estimates that 7% of American adults support for alcoholics have a problem with alcohol abuse. As the issue is believed to be systematically underreported, that means that at least 15 million adults have alcohol abuse issues nationwide. Many more are dealing with other substance abuse problems, including drug addiction.
Once your mother or father is admitted, make sure to call them and write to them regularly if the rehab centre allows it. Never miss out on ways to communicate during the treatment process. People who have parents with substance use problems are at higher risk of having these problems too. A support group or therapy can help you learn how to avoid this risk. Wendy Berkshire, director of Camp Mariposa in Dayton, Ohio, says it’s important to help children name and regulate their emotions — and not assume they know how automatically. “We teach kids that … when we keep our feelings inside and we don’t have an opportunity Sobriety to share them in a safe place and with a safe person it becomes a part of the cycle of addiction.”
