1st Edition

Working with Substance-Affected Parents and their Children A guide for human service workers

By Lynda Campbell Copyright 2015
    258 Pages
    by Routledge

    288 Pages
    by Routledge

    Working with families in which parents have problems with alcohol or other drugs can be complex, stressful and intense. This ground-breaking guide helps human service workers to better support parents struggling to overcome substance use problems. It draws together the perspectives of professionals from alcohol and other drug treatment centres, child and family welfare groups as well as leading researchers in the fields of addiction and child protection, and also provides practical strategies for understanding and overcoming common practice challenges.

    In this book you will find guidelines for: developing positive relationships with parents and children; identifying what you need to know when undertaking an assessment; ensuring the safety of families; improving family life; assisting parents when children are in care; and focusing on your own self-care and professional development.

    This is an essential resource for both students and professionals working in this challenging field.

    'The optimism, wisdom and insight collated in this work... makes this required reading for all of those whose working lives coincide with substance-using parents or their children.' - Professor David Best, Chair, Sheffield Addiction Recovery Research Group; founder and co-chair of Recovery Academy Australia

    Foreword

    Acknowledgements

    About the authors

    Introduction

    PART 1: FOUNDATIONAL KNOWLEDGE

    1. Understanding families with alcohol and other drug problems

    2. Conceptualising needs and professional responses

    PART 2: SOUND BEGINNINGS

    3. Connecting with parents

    4. Connecting with children

    5. Identifying what you need to know

    PART 3: FACILITATING CHANGE AND GROWTH

    6. Keeping children and families safe

    7. Improving family life from the inside

    8. Enhancing informal and formal family support

    9. Supporting families when children are in care

    PART 4: BEING AT YOUR BEST

    10. Self-care and professional development

    PART 5: ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

    Chart: Key messages for practice

    Glossary of terms

    References

    Useful websites and resources

    Index

    Biography

    DR MENKA TSANTEFSKI is a Senior Lecturer in Social Work at the School of Human Services and Social Work, Griffith University, specialising in child and family-related subjects.

    DR STEFAN GRUENERT is a registered psychologist and CEO of Odyssey House, Victoria.

    DR LYNDA CAMPBELL has over forty years' experience in the child and family welfare sector including twenty years as a lecturer in Social Work at the University of Melbourne.