Understanding the Impact of Parental Addiction on Children & Young People: A Trauma-Informed Approach

In this webinar, I will weave together personal experience with contemporary research, drawing on my own childhood experience, as well as professional expertise. 

In the professional context, I have provided leadership, consulting and training to numerous services across Australia and NZ, in child trauma, child protection and family wellbeing. I have worked in many contexts where addiction and substance use are key factors in child protection risk. 

The impacts of parental addiction can significantly impact a child and young person's life and health outcomes, across their lifespan. Cycles of addiction, poverty, offending and trauma can become engrained at individual, family and community levels, as well as in future generations. As a previous member of New Zealand's Child Mortality Review Panel, parental addiction has been a common theme in child deaths for many years.

In the personal context, as a child I experienced the raw reality of parental heroin addiction. The traumas of my own childhood experience are not unlike contemporary understandings and research. The reality is the impacts on children and young people are common year after year. 

What also has not significantly changed, is listening to the voices of young people who have experienced parental addiction. We have so much to learn from their experiences, resilience, inside knowledge and survival strategies. 

The QFCC has just released the Child Death Review Board’s 2023-24 Annual Report. One of the key recommendations is 'assessing the impact of parental substance use on the child'. The time to increase our understanding and respond effectively to parental addiction and the impact on their children has already passed. The best next time is NOW.

When we respond with a developmental, empathetic and trauma-informed lens, we can support healing, health and positive life outcomes.

Join us for this webinar where I will share personal insights, practice wisdom and trauma-responsive recommendations. 

I look forward to connecting with you.