Introduction:
Families, like other social groups are extremely important in the
addiction process. First, family members play a variety of roles.
For adults, these include being a spouse, worker, parent, friend, as well as
community members. In healthy family systems, members are able to grow
in a variety of areas, communication amongst members is open, and children
grow up being cared for, feeling safe, and able to develop a healthy and
solid concept of self. In contrast, within unhealthy systems,
communication is often closed, children feel stress and anxiety, plus often experience
problems in many areas (school, trust, relationships, self worth, etc).
In relation to addictions, having a family member with a
substance abuse or dependence problem creates difficulty. First, there
is often a shift in the power system (especially if the person with a
substance problem is an adult). For
example, children may need to "pick up the slack" and assist the
non-addicted parent. Children may also experience neglect, abuse or
other problems. Consequently, family roles may change, acting out may occur,
and trust issues may occur. Further, if a person enters recovery, the
lack of trust will often impede the addicted persons recovery. If the
substance abuser is a child, trust issues and other problems will occur as
well.
This section reviews family systems models, the influence of
the addict on the family, and how families function both with and without a
person who is a substance abuser.
Goal: To
understand how the addiction process influences families, how families deal
with addicted individuals, and finally, what happens within family roles as as a person begins to
enter the recovery process.
Outcomes: After completing this lesson you should understand / be
able to:
