By Callum Ludwig
Drug and alcohol addiction can tear a family apart, and family members of an addict can often feel hopeless, helpless and uncertain as to how they can help a loved one.
The ADRA Redwood Community Centre is hosting a four-part series to teach attendees about the effect of addiction on families from Tuesday 4 July at 4pm.
Christian James is organising and speaking in the series and said a lot of the time, the focus is on the addict’s end but they are going to focus on the family.
“A lot of the time, it’s the family that is able to reach out and get help for the addict. The first part of the series will focus on what addiction is, the next two focus on the different roles in the family and how addiction changes family dynamics and the last is where to go from there and how to get the balance back,” he said.
“This can change lives, it can and does and will save lives.”
Guest speaker Jeff has specialised in addiction for 29 years, having been rescued from addiction and gone on to work with rehab programs.
Mr James said addiction starts young and people don’t often understand it and why people just can’t stop.
“We see quite a number of people here that end up homeless because of drug addiction and they might even be in their 40s with children themselves and that’s then passed on to the child, who is going to grow up mirroring what the parents do, and their behaviours,” he said.
“We need to educate people so that it doesn’t pass on generationally and that people can be pulled out of where they are at, be put back into society and be healthy and whole.”
The ‘Addiction in the Family’ series is completely free for any and all attendees.
Mr James said a family member reaching out for help can be the turning point.
“It might be a spouse or a child, and that may be the turning point for them into getting healthy again, and that will save their life. Jeff the speaker, it was his wife that pushed for him to get help, and that was his way of getting help and him out of his addiction,” he said.
