Caring for the child of an addict -whether you’re the other parent, a foster carer or other family member– can be really challenging.

There’s anger for what feels like picking up the pieces of someone else's mess. There’s anger towards the addict, guilt for the pain the children go though. Most noticeably dealing with the behaviour resulting from trauma. The maze of emotions can be overwhelming.

Broken Chains want to be there to work along side you in the healing process.

Things we want you to know

· Self care is essential to cope with the situation.

· Not knowing how to answer the many questions children have is ok (we will help).

· Children need the truth in an age appropriate way to allow the healing process to begin.

· By providing a safe and loving environment you are helping already.

· There are lots of things you can do to promote the wellbeing of the child.

· You didn’t cause the addiction, you can’t cure the addict, you can’t control the addiction.

· You are not alone!

Are you caring for a Child affected by Parental Substance Misuse?

You are not Alone. We are with you.

How Broken Chains Can Help

As mentioned above, we know there are so many questions you will be asked about the addict and their addiction. We have a page on in our resources section where we provide answers for you to give to those questions, based on research and experience we want to be along side you to provide the answers to these tough questions.

Mindfulness

Trauma as a result of addiction can bring up some very challenging and painful emotions. Mindfulness can be a great way to help manage emotions. We have mindfulness activities on the resources page available for you to download. These activities will provide instructions and tips.

Activities

Play therapy can be very useful, it can also be very costly. We would always recommend if possible find a registered therapist but that is not always possible.

We provide some evidence based activities for you to do with your child that are aimed specifically at those affect by a parents drug or alcohol use.