Addiction and Families

“Addiction and Families” will be presented on Tuesday February 21, 2017, from 7:30 pm to 9:00 pm, by Anna Byberg, LMSW, CAADC; Program Coordinator, Dawn Farm Spera Recovery Center. Substance addiction is often described as a family condition. Each member of the family unit is affected by addiction within the family and often family members do not realize how profoundly they have been affected. To survive within a framework of chaos, family members often develop roles and defense mechanisms that help them to cope. Family members affected by substance addiction often have challenges in supporting each other and taking care of their own health and well-being. Family involvement is an important element of the recovery process for people with addiction, and family members themselves can recover from the effects of having person with addiction in the family, whether the person with addiction recovers or not. This program will provide participants with a basic understanding of how addiction impacts each member of a family. The presenter will describe the roles and behaviors that family members often acquire when living with addiction, ways in which each family member is affected by addiction in the family, and options for family members to obtain help to cope with addiction in the family. This program is part of the Dawn Farm Education Series, a FREE, annual education series developed to provide accurate, helpful, hopeful, practical, current information about chemical dependency, recovery, family and related issues; and to dispel the myths, misinformation, secrecy, shame and stigma that prevent chemically dependent individuals and their families from getting help and getting well. All programs are free and open to anyone interested. Registration is not required. 1.5 hours of free C.E. approved by NAADAC (National Association for Addiction Professionals) and MCBAP (Michigan Certification Board for Addiction Professionals) is provided. A certificate to document attendance is provided on request. The Education Series is organized by Dawn Farm, a non-profit community of programs providing a continuum of chemical dependency services.