How Does Family Counselling Help When Your Child Has Alcohol Problems?

Often when family becomes involved in caring for a loved one who is addicted to alcohol or drugs, they do not realize how they are themselves being affected by the situation they find themselves in and often they do not know where or how to seek help.

Families often find themselves in a difficult situation – police arriving at the home, fights over how to deal with a child who is using alcohol or drugs, or perhaps the guilt the family members may feel when dealing with a child who may be an alcoholic. Alcohol is an ageless and genderless addiction – it can and does affect anyone.

A family member who is helping a child beat an alcohol addiction may be wise to look into speaking to a counsellor for themselves. Usually, the person has been dealing with a situation for some time and has run out of ways to cope – here is where a counsellor can step in and help the person to deal with feelings such as stress, anxiety, chock, helplessness, and hopelessness, which all may come from having to be a support system at home.

One of the most important aspects in family counselling is allowing each member of the family to identify which part they play in the substance misuse problem – this does not place blame on anyone, but helps each member to see how they respond and behave to the situation.

Counselling may also help family members to look into themselves and find motivation apart from helping their addicted family member – allowing them to start to make positive changes for themselves. In family counselling, family members are allowed to make discoveries about themselves, such as why they may react a certain way in a given situation.

When dealing with a family member who is addicted to alcohol, or any other substance, it can be hard to cope with the feelings surrounding the issues. Finding a family counsellor to help each person work through the issue at hand may prove beneficial to getting a family through all together.