Indigenous Opening Ceremony & Opening conference & Book Launch: Families Affected by Addiction (Springer Nature)
Simultaneous translation: https://attend.wordly.ai/join/TRHK-1291 Dr Myriam Laventure Title: The elephant in the room: Living with a parent with a substance use problemelephant in the room: Living with a parent with a substance use problem Short description: The aim of this presentation is to paint a picture of children exposed to a parent's problematic use of alcohol and drugs. In families where one or both parents are drug users, the dynamics of denial and distortion often mean that drug use becomes the central organising factor in the family. However, not all children are affected in the same way by their parents' drug use. Several factors may explain this difference: gender, age, number of years of exposure, whether the mother or father who is addicted, the presence or absence of a parent who is not a problem drug user, the presence of a social network (extended family or other adults) and the child's level of resilience. Despite suffering from the situation, children are often stuck in a position where they are reluctant to ask for help and admit their fears. Interventions should therefore be accessible to free these children from the guilt associated with their parents' drug use, to help them regain a sense of control over their environment and, above all, to give them the space to be children.
