Tagged With "addiction"

September is Recovery Month. With more than a quarter of those participating in the ACE study detailing addiction in the family, and addiction commonly co-occuring with numerous additional ACEs, it is important to raise the awareness in the general community about the impact of parental addition, and how family recovery can be celebrated during this important month. SAMHSA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration ) and many agencies, treatment centers and organizations...

By Kavitha Cardoza, National Public Radio, February 6, 2020 What can you do if you're a teacher, a neighbor, a churchgoer, a coach ... and you suspect a child is being impacted by a parent's addiction? Maybe you're thinking, "I'd love to help but it's not my business." Or "I want to reach out but I don't know much about addiction." Remember that episode of Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood, where he tells children to "look for the helpers"? You can be that helper simply by being present for the...

By Ashley Lyles, MedPage Today, November 19, 2019 Patient: I'd gotten pregnant again and I was using through my whole pregnancy, and I didn't receive prenatal care. He was born and he's fine and everything. The [Department of Social Services] let me bring him home. Then a week after I had him, I relapsed really, really bad. Then, I got really messed up and they took my kid. Reporter: The opioid epidemic has taken a toll in rural areas, especially on pregnant women. Doctors and healthcare...

Today would have been my Mom’s 76th birthday. Mom died eight months ago after a 50+ year battle with the grave disease of addiction and, in her later years, significant mental health issues. Here's what my mom's addiction taught me about shame, resilience, and grace: https://traumainformedlancaster.wordpress.com/2017/05/07/what-my-moms-addiction-taught-me-about-shame-resilience-and-grace/

Why do people cut themselves? Here's a story of my work with Renee and how we helped her find better ways to deal.

first published by The Meadows 4/15/20 Our sense of loss during the current COVID-19 crisis can trigger hidden emotions from when we experienced a sense of loss before. Whatever early losses you have had in your life — whether they be your own divorce, your parents, or both, or the abandonment of one parent, a childhood or parental illness or death, financial upheaval, constant moving around, or growing up with parental addiction or adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) — they are likely to...

The inputs a brain experiences during its developmental stages have a profound impact on whether that person will develop a substance use disorder (if they choose to drink or use other drugs). In turn, developing a substance use disorder (SUD) as a tween, teen, or young adult dramatically influences that person's brain development. And why is understanding this causality important? The risk factors for developing a substance use disorder are the result of inputs the brain experiences (or...

For every addict, there are five to seven people deeply impacted by living with addiction. People whose lives will be forever changed. The most vulnerable of these are children. There are several factors that impact how traumatizing the experience of growing up with addiction might become. Among them are, a child’s access to outside support, their age/developmental level and of course, the natural power imbalance between parent and child. Afterall, where can a child go with their lunchbox,...

I was 5 years old when I had my first encounter with trauma. Too young to comprehend the magnitude of the situation, my first grade class participated in a “Good Touch/Bad Touch” workshop,centered around educating and recognizing signs of sexual abuse. I found relief in finding a safe place to lay down the burden I had been carrying. I went straight to the school counselor and told her, in vivid description, the intimate details of my unwarranted molestation. I remember the grueling...

Given the way the media portray opioid addiction, it's natural to react with panic or moral outrage when you discover your child struggling with the problem. It's not natural to calm down and try to view your child as someone who is using opioids to cope with serious problems, though that is likely the case, according to research.

RFQ ANNOUNCEMENT: Celebrating Families! California Expansion Project Update: Due to the expanding ACEs response in California, and subsequent interest in Celebrating Families! we are extending the due date for proposals to May 24 th. Invitation to Expand Celebrating Families!™ Statewide The California State Office of Child Abuse Prevention (OCAP) recognizing the effectiveness of Celebrating Families! (CF!), has awarded Prevention Partnership International (PPI) a $100,000, 2-year challenge...

Note: You may receive an unsolicited invite to a class when downloading the article. By Gabor Mate, PESI, May 2, 2020 Have you ever wondered, as I have, how someone with an addiction could go through 21 detox centers and 5 treatment facilities, yet continue to relapse? It wasn’t until I started working in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside—one of the most concentrated areas of drug use, mental illness, and poverty in North America—that I realized... The reason these treatments do NOT work is...

Children of Addiction (COA) Awareness Week is an annual celebration near and dear to my heart for many reasons, not the least of which are my personal experiences as a child of an alcoholic and as a child with four ACEs - three of which were the result of secondhand drinking (explained below). COA Week is an annual event celebrated during the week of Valentine’s Day - this year it's February 11 - 17. It is sponsored by the National Association for Children of Addiction, NACoA.org . NACoA’s...

We welcome you to join our free workshop on April 28th at 6:30 PM PST Your family will be able to learn more about intuitive eating, how to beat screen addiction, and how to practice fitness at home. After the workshop, your child will have the tools for improving self-esteem, their positive body image, and they’ll know how to reduce their anxiety and screen time Sign up for our workshop by following this link tinyurl.com/ks0428

"Forward: A Free guide to support the Wellbeing of Youth and Adults who have been Impacted by the Stigma of a Parent's Drug or Alcohol use." I am proud to share the release of our new guide: Forward. This guide is intended to increase a youth's understanding of their experiences with a parent's drug or alcohol use while empowering them to use their incredible resilience to move forward with hope and healing.

National Grief Awareness Week "Crying isn't the hurt, it is the process of being unhurt". Althea Solter ------------ The chronic grief of children and youth who are impacted by a parent's substance use can often go unacknowledged or be invalidated. As such, it is important for professionals to understand the chronic loss that can occur in a child's life when a parent struggles with addiction, particularly if both parents struggle. This grief can be compounded by a stigma that prevents...

A New Path Forward: A Report on How Stigma Harms Youth exposed to Parental Substance Use Disorder and Recommendations for a New Path Forward NEW REPORT: On February 3rd, Starlings Community released a FIRST of its kind report on how stigma impacts youth exposed to parental substance use disorder. Approximately 1 in 6 youth are exposed to the stress and stigma of a parent's substance use disorder. These children/youth are at double the risk for depression, triple the risk for addiction, and...

In Canada, 1/6 youth are exposed to a parent's addiction, and stigma prevents many parents from recovery. This stigma has detrimental consequences on the health and well-being of impacted youth. As such, we are excited to introduce Starlings Community Youth Advisory Committee . Vision: It is the vision of the Starlings Community Youth council to represent the voices of youth who have been impacted by the stigma of a parent’s substance use within the provincial and federal supports and...

Wednesday, June 22, 2022 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM ET A family-centered approach reflects an understanding and responsiveness to the fact that parents and children live within the context of a larger family system and services must respond to the needs of each family member and the family system to achieve the best outcomes. Children with actively involved fathers have better outcomes. i Engaging fathers in services for families affected by substance use disorders, particularly in the perinatal...

Strengthen your understanding and practice of gender-responsive, trauma-informed interventions when you train with Dr. Stephanie S. Covington at this national conference.

Hello My PACESconnection Colleagues! I published the print, ebook, and Kindle versions of my book It's Not About Food, Drugs or Alcohol: It's About Healing Complex PTSD over a year ago. However, getting the audiobook version done has been much more challenging than I anticipated. The great news is I didn't give up, and I got it done (with my voice narrating it), and it's now available on Audible, Amazon Music, and iTunes! The Audible version includes a 70-page PDF with all of the images from...