When I discovered substance use with my children, I realized I needed to find resources that would help me find answers.
I felt it was essential to do my research on what would work for my family.
Books, videos, online courses, and websites have helped me through the years.
Here are some resources that will inform you about substance use disorder and help you get on a path to healing.
Books on Addiction for Family Members
Addictive Thinking: Understanding Self Deception, by Abraham J. Twerski, M.D., describes how self-deceptive thought can undermine self-esteem and threaten the sobriety of a recovering individual.
Beyond Addiction, by Jeff Foote, PhD, Carrie Wilkens, PhD, and Nicole Kosanke, PhD shows readers how they can use kindness, positive reinforcement, and motivational and behavioral strategies to help their loved ones change.
Get Your Loved One Sober: Alternatives to Nagging, Pleading, and Threatening, by Robert J. Myers Ph.D. and Brenda L. Wolfe Ph.D., describes the multi-faceted program that uses supportive, non-confrontational methods to help families of those struggling with substance use disorder.
If You Loved Me, You’d Stop!, by Lisa Fredericksen, explains what it is about coping with a loved one’s drinking that is so harmful to the family member’s physical and emotional health.
Inside Rehab: The Surprising Truth About Addiction Treatment and How to Get Help That Works, by Anne M. Fletcher, is an eye-opening tour of the addiction treatment industry. The book explores the gap between what should happen and what does happen in treatment programs.
Listening Well: The Art of Empathic Understanding, by William R. Miller, includes a clear explanation, specific examples, and practical exercises, Dr. Miller offers a step-by-step process for developing your skillfulness in empathic listening.
The Journey of the Heroic Parent: Your Child’s Struggle & the Road Home, by Brad Reedy, PhD, takes you on a journey to a happier, healthier relationship with your struggling child—and yourself.
Not By Chance: How Parents Boost Their Teen’s Success In and After Treatment, by Tim Thayne, PhD, engages readers through solid research, simple exercises, and captivating stories taken from Thayne’s own life and the living rooms of hundreds of American homes.
The Beyond Addiction Workbook for Family and Friends: Evidence-Based Skills to Help a Loved One Make Positive Change, by Jeffrey Foote, Ph.D., Ken Carpenter, Ph.D., and Carrie Wilkens, PhD, is a healing and supportive workbook that offers practical, evidence-based skills to help you address substance use or other compulsive behaviors with your loved one in a productive way—without creating conflict.
The Compassion Antidote: A Path to Change for You and Your Child Struggling with Substance Use, by Catherine Taughinbaugh, shares a parent’s path through the CRAFT approach and how positive reinforcement, allowing for natural consequences, setting clear boundaries, and taking care of yourself will give you the best chance that your child will be open to change.
The Invitation to Change – Short Guide (ITC), by Jeffrey Foote, Ph.D., Ken Carpenter, Ph.D., and Carrie Wilkens, PhD, is a holistic helping framework based in science and kindness, designed for the families and loved ones of people struggling with substance use.
The Parallel Process: Growing Alongside Your Adolescent & Young Adult Child in Treatment, by Krissy Pozatek, helps parents use this time when their child is in treatment to recognize that their own patterns may have contributed to their family’s downward spiral.
The Parents 20 Minute Guide, The Center for Motivation and Change, helps parents learn the Craft (Community Reinforcement and Family Training) and Motivational Techniques. The book contains helpful strategies around communication, consequences, and self-care.
Addiction Memoirs
A Very Fine House, by Barbara Cofer Stoefen, is a memoir of a mother’s Norman Rockwell family turned upside down by her daughter’s descent into meth addiction and crime
Beautiful Boy, by David Sheff, is an amazing and best-selling memoir about a son’s addiction and the havoc created for the family.
Broken, by William Cope Myers, is the story of William’s addiction to drugs. It is a wonderful example of how addiction does not discriminate.
If You Love Me: A Mother’s Journey Through Her Daughter’s Opioid Addiction, by Maureen Cavanagh, is the story of a mother who suddenly finds herself on the frontlines of the opioid epidemic as her daughter battles—and ultimately reckons with—substance use disorder.
The Lost Years, by Kristina Wandzilak and Constance Curry, shares the story of Kristina’s addiction and her mom’s journey trying to help and cope with the addiction.
Stay Close, by Libby Cataldi, is the story of Libby’s son Jeremy’s descent into heroin addiction and the importance of staying emotionally close.
The Joey Song, by Sandy Swenson, is the story of a mother’s many years of struggle with her addicted son and how a child’s substance use affects relationships with family and friends.
Video Courses
Allies in Recovery – an e-learning platform to learn the evidence-based method of intervening with your loved one who suffers from addiction.
IGNTD Hero “Nohab” Program is a program that revolutionizes how people get help for their addictions and compulsive habits.
Parent Craft – An online video course that teaches parents the skills they need to meet the risks of substance abuse. Parent CRAFT is based on the proven CRAFT method.
Regain Your Hope – a video course for parents or other family members who have a teen or young adult struggling with experimentation, dependence, or addiction. The course is based on the CRAFT approach.
We the Village – is a proven family program to learn skills and what you need to know when someone you love is in addiction or recovery.
Video Resources
Behind the Orange Curtain shares the real story of what is happening in Orange County, California, with regard to prescription drug use.
HBO Addiction – The feature-length documentary film ADDICTION is the centerpiece of the Addiction project, sharing the current state of addiction in America. Leading experts on drug and alcohol addiction share the latest thinking on treatment and recovery.
Overtaken, The Documentary – Jodi Barber and Christine Brant are two moms who have accomplished their goal of making a short-length documentary featuring the struggles of addiction in the lives of young adults.
The Anonymous People – Greg Williams has created a feature documentary film about the over 23 million Americans living in long-term recovery from addiction to alcohol and other drugs.
Wasted – A documentary – In the documentary, Wasted, filmmaker Maureen Palmer sets out to follow her life partner, an alcoholic with five years of sobriety, on a search for the best new evidence-based addiction treatments.
Websites
Breaking the Cycles shares research, information, personal experiences, and opinions on alcohol abuse and addiction-related topics.
Center for Motivation and Change is a unique, private group practice of dedicated clinicians and researchers in New York City specializing in treating substance use and compulsive behaviors. You will find an online copy of the Parents 20 Minute Guide and their blog with helpful information.
CMC: Foundation for Change puts the power of evidence-based strategies directly into the hands of individuals and communities affected by substance use.
Helping Families Help is a website that introduces you to CRAFT: an evidence-based method for motivating your loved one toward recovery while taking care of yourself.
Other Parents Like Me is an online parent-to-parent support community designed for parents of teens struggling with mental health issues.
National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) NIDA for teens educates adolescents ages 11 through 15 (as well as their parents and teachers) on the science behind drug abuse.
Partnership for Drug-Free Kids helps families find answers when they are concerned about teen drug use. They reduce substance abuse among adolescents by supporting families and engaging with teens.
SMART Recovery for Families and Friends has effective, easy-to-learn tools to help you and your loved one. Our methods are based on the tools of SMART Recovery and CRAFT Therapy (Community Reinforcement & Family Training).
Soberlink is one way to provide support with Soberlink’s alcohol monitoring system. The system allows your child to take a breathalyzer test and sends real-time results to you, the parent, and other friends and family who are a part of their support circle. This is great for fostering accountability and rebuilding trust.”
The Stream is a private online village for parents of children struggling with substance use and mental health challenges centered around education, wellness, and connection.
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services works to improve the quality and availability of substance abuse prevention, alcohol and drug addiction treatment, and mental health services. Here is the link to their Behavioral Treatment Services Locator.
I hope that these resources will help you not feel so alone and that you can find support.
Thank you for all you’re doing to help your kids stay healthy!
Access research-based resources to help you support your child in a kind, compassionate way, which can lead to change.
And consider getting access to my online course, Regain Your Hope, an online course that gives you an action plan to help your child. Know that your child can change. Love, Cathy
Consider checking out my book, The Compassion Antidote: A Path to Change for You and Your Child Struggling with Addiction.
