Dallas, Texas (Feb. 15, 2018) When a parent struggles with alcohol or other drugs, the family gets tugged in many directions. Emotions run high and expectations often aren't met, which can leave the youngest ones in the family victimized. Through intensive counseling activities, the Betty Ford Center Children's Program helps kids work through the loneliness and confusion of growing up in a family affected by addiction. But many times, the parents also walk away with new life skills.
"When a family member is in the throes of addiction, the children are the first hurt but last helped," said Jerry Moe, National Director of the Betty Ford Center Children's Program, part of the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation. "Our program teaches children that this disease is not their fault and gives them the power to express their feelings and talk to their parents about their emotions."
For one Dallas-area mom, whose husband was caught in a recurring cycle of sobriety and relapse, the process of recovery included a deterioration of trust and ultimately a divorce. But amid all of that, the Betty Ford Center Children's Program provided her and her daughter the skills to heal.
"The situation was really hard on my daughter, which is why we sent her to Betty Ford just before his second stint in rehab and again later," she said. "The entire family gained a shared vocabulary and a better understanding of how to express our emotions when talking about her dad's treatment and recovery. She learned many skills to address her emotions. And what made me a better parent was that I could now help her with her coping skills when she was having a bad day."
"While parental recovery is the greatest gift to one's children, a child's healing and growth are special gifts too, empowering and motivating parents to fight for recovery and heal so they can reclaim the family life that had been so elusive in the midst of addiction," added Sis Wenger, President and CEO of the National Association for Children of Addiction. "This reciprocal recover—when children are offered an age-appropriate targeted children's program and begin to understand and heal—is the beginning of multigenerational healing, forgiveness and whole-family recovery. Everyone wins!"
(For photos, video clips and additional information, see the Betty Ford Center Children's Program Press Kit.)
About the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation
The Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation helps people reclaim their lives from the disease of addiction. It is the nation's leading nonprofit treatment provider, with a legacy that began in 1949 and includes the 1982 founding of the Betty Ford Center. With 17 sites in California, Minnesota, Oregon, Illinois, New York, Florida, Massachusetts, Colorado and Texas, the Foundation offers prevention and recovery solutions nationwide and across the entire continuum of care for youth and adults. It includes the largest recovery publishing house in the country, a fully-accredited graduate school of addiction studies, an addiction research center, an education arm for medical professionals and a unique children's program, and is the nation's leader in advocacy and policy for treatment and recovery. Learn more at HazeldenBettyFord.org and on Twitter @hazldnbettyford.