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Working with families in which parents have problems with alcohol or other drugs can be complex, stressful and intense. This ground-breaking guide helps human service workers to better support parents struggling to overcome substance use problems. It draws together the perspectives of professionals from alcohol and other drug treatment centres, child and family welfare groups as well as leading researchers in the fields of addiction and child protection, and also provides practical strategies for understanding and overcoming common practice challenges.
In this book you will find guidelines for: developing positive relationships with parents and children; identifying what you need to know when undertaking an assessment; ensuring the safety of families; improving family life; assisting parents when children are in care; and focusing on your own self-care and professional development.
This is an essential resource for both students and professionals working in this challenging field.
'The optimism, wisdom and insight collated in this work... makes this required reading for all of those whose working lives coincide with substance-using parents or their children.' -
Professor David Best, Chair, Sheffield Addiction Recovery Research Group; founder and co-chair of Recovery Academy Australia
List of contents
Foreword
Acknowledgements
About the authors
Introduction
PART 1: FOUNDATIONAL KNOWLEDGE
1. Understanding families with alcohol and other drug problems
2. Conceptualising needs and professional responses
PART 2: SOUND BEGINNINGS
3. Connecting with parents
4. Connecting with children
5. Identifying what you need to know
PART 3: FACILITATING CHANGE AND GROWTH
6. Keeping children and families safe
7. Improving family life from the inside
8. Enhancing informal and formal family support
9. Supporting families when children are in care
PART 4: BEING AT YOUR BEST
10. Self-care and professional development
PART 5: ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Chart: Key messages for practice
Glossary of terms
References
Useful websites and resources
Index
About the author
DR MENKA TSANTEFSKI is a Senior Lecturer in Social Work at the School of Human Services and Social Work, Griffith University, specialising in child and family-related subjects.
DR STEFAN GRUENERT is a registered psychologist and CEO of Odyssey House, Victoria.
DR LYNDA CAMPBELL has over forty years' experience in the child and family welfare sector including twenty years as a lecturer in Social Work at the University of Melbourne.
Summary
A practical guide for human service workers to overcome common problems in working with substance-affected families.
