There are few families not affected by addiction in some manner and all parents can learn from tips on how to talk to their children about alcohol and drugs. While this book is written primarily for the recovering addicted parent, it contains information that will be valuable to anyone who has addiction in his or her family system.

Talking with your kids about alcohol use, drug use, and addiction can be difficult for any parent. For recovering parents, conversations with your children about drug use and abuse are even more complex, urgent, and personal.

This book provides clear direction and gently support for discussing your past addiction with your children.

Claudia introduces five very different families and how these parents have talked to their kids about recovery, relapse and the child's own vulnerability to using drugs and alcohol in an addictive manner. As you come across various scenarios of family situations or examples, simply take what fits and leave the rest.

Take a look inside the book by clicking on - Inside Straight Talk

Discussion tips and easy to understand facts are shared in boxed sections to help parents focus in on key issues.

Topics addressed include:

The basic healing messages that young children need to hear if parents who have recently become sober are raising them.

How to talk to adolescents, teens and grown children about the basic characteristics of addiction, including denial, preoccupation, loss of control, change in tolerance and withdrawal.

How to discuss genetic and environmental influences that can contribute to becoming chemically dependent, including the latest brain chemistry research.

How parents in early recovery can begin making amends and building sober relationships with their children, whether the children are young or grown.

Age-appropriate strategies to reduce a child's risks for experimenting with drugs and alcohol.

Chapters

Straight Talk About Addiction and Recovery

Breaking the Chain of Addiction

Generational Vulnerability

Clarifying the Confusion

Early Recovery and Making Amends

New Ways of Relating

Creating Healthy Family Traditions

Never Underestimate Your Power as a Parent

While you can't make up for the past in a few conversations, and you can't completely protect your children from the enormous reach of addiction, you can move closer to becoming the parent your children need you to be and the parent you want to be. Nearly all parents struggle at times. There is no one prescription for raising children or mending hurt relationships.

It is my hope Straight Talk will offer you support, guidance and direction while allowing you to be present for your children with your own authentic style.

Readers Comments

I commend you for your outstanding book Straight Talk. I read this book in order to understand more about addiction. I was a codependent of my daughter's addiction and now she is in recovery and we are all together learning from each other.

Martha K.

I've been meaning to tell you about the response to your article Straight Talk. In the 14 years of publishing Arizona Together we have never seen an issue disappear so quickly.

Bill B.