Alcohol and other drugs are like dominos, they knock down the person who uses them, and that person knocks down everyone else around them. While alcohol and other drugs take an incredible toll on the abuser, they also take an incredible toll on the family.

The height of codependency is living under the shadow of somebody else's addiction. Whether you are a parent, partner, or a chld, family members struggle with the phenomena of enabling the addict. The codependent, from a place of both fear and love, strives to control the addicted person's behavior, yet this enabling behavior only fuels the addiction and ultimately negatively impacts all involved. One of the most important messages you need to truly grasp, is that you are powerless over anyone's addiction, whether the addiction is a substance or a behavior. Without grasping this concept you stay controlled by the disease.

Claudia Black will help the viewer to lessen the denial around their own behavior and empower them in their own recovery, which ultimately can have a positive impact on the addict.Claudia says: I believe that any experienced professional who has worked in the chemical dependency field would agree just how important it is for family members to experience recovery. Not only is the family deserving of recovery but their recovery has a direct impact on the ongoing recovery of the addicted person.

Claudia presents three particular areas that greatly impact the family.

Powerlessness

Recognizing that they are powerless over the disease.

Unmanageability

Recognizing that their lives have become unmanageable as a result of the addiction and their codependency.

Tough Love

Recognizing their enabling and to commit to non-enabling behaviors.

Claudia uses pictures drawn by young family members to illustrate how the addiction has impacted the family and interactive graphics that underline specific points of her presentation.

Addiction in the Family has been produced to allow you to show this video in two formats.

Interactive Format (Claudia's preference)

The video can be stopped at two particular cues and a short discussion takes place that pertains to issues that she has just covered.

Straight Forward Format

The video is shown in its entirety and a discussion follows.

With the major changes that have occurred in the delivery of addictions treatment, the availability of family programming has lessened or become non-existent.

As a professional you will find this video an important tool that will allow you, in one or two sessions, to focus on primary treatment issues with family members, individually or in groups. If you deal with addictions and you believe that the family must be involved in the recovery process, then this video is made for your use.

Preview

To view the first 5 minutes of this video, click on the View Video Clip. You will need to have QuickTime Media Player installed on your computer. A free download is available here.

Running time is 28 minutes.