Working with Substance-Affected Parents and Their Children: A Guide for Human Service Workers

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

DrMenka Tsantefski is a Senior Lecturer in Social Work at the School of Human Services and Social Work, Griffith University specializing in child and family-related subjects. Dr Stefan Gruenert is a registered psychologist and CEO of Odyssey House, Victoria. Dr Lynda Campbell has more than 40 years’ experience in the child and family welfare sector, including 20 years as a lecturer in Social Work at the University of Melbourne.