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Parents with an adult child dealing with substance use disorder involving either drugs or alcohol find hope and support through Parents of Addicted Loved Ones (PAL). Meetings are available all over the country, and lives are being changed every day. It’s not an easy journey, but you don’t have to go at it alone.
Find Hope.
Three parents.
Three journeys just like yours.
“Finding out that a loved one is using drugs or alcohol can be difficult. There can be a lot of lying and denial. Once you know for sure, the next question is: What now?“
Kevin B.
There have been times that my sons made me so proud and other times it was impossible for me to even pick out a birthday card for them because none of the cards fit the way I really felt.
Jack M.
We are parents of a 28-year-old son who struggles with alcohol abuse and mental illness that he was diagnosed with at a young age…
Claudia S.
You are not alone.
To have a child lost to alcohol or drug addiction is to suffer a thousand deaths. The more you try to save them from their addiction the more it burns a hole in your heart. Watching their light fall away into darkness, you enter your own world of pain. But while you may feel stranded by fear and confusion, you are not alone.
We’ve been there.
PAL is a nonprofit that provides hope through education and support to parents of adults dealing with substance use disorder.
The free weekly meetings follow evidence-based practices, and the curriculum used is designed specifically for parents by professionals in the treatment and recovery industry. Each session includes:
- An educational component that offers tools for parents to use when to trying to save a son or daughter from addiction, including ways to help them in a healthy way rather than enable their addiction.
- A time for parents to interact, sharing what has worked – and has not worked – for them in their community.
Not only is the physical and emotional health of parents improved, but in many cases their adult addicted loved one is led to seek recovery. Researchers from Northern Arizona University have studied PAL and determined that after participating in the PAL program:
- Parents’ wellbeing improved.
- Parents decreased their tendency to engage in enabling and co-dependency behaviors.
- PAL participants’ addicted loved ones were less likely to misuse substances.
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Hope, Help and Stories. Read On.
Our blog contains stories from the PAL monthly eNewsletter. We feature columns by parents like you, by counselors, and by people in recovery. They offer ongoing sources of information, insight, and hope.
What I Had to Unlearn to Truly Love My Son
I am a mother of two sons and one daughter, and a grandmother to a grandson and granddaughter. I want to share the story of my son, Chance. Chance had a normal childhood. He was active, fun, and...
Loving Your Adult Child Without Losing Yourself
Reflections for Parents — Especially Moms — from a Counselor’s PerspectiveAdapted from The Four Seasons of Recovery, by Michael Speakman, LISAC (PAL Founder) One of the hardest truths parents must...
Only a Mother’s Love
Mother’s Day used to be complicated for me. Not because I didn’t believe in it… but because I didn’t know where I fit in it. There was a time in my life when I wasn’t showing up as the kind of...
When Helping Hurts: Shifting from Parenting a Child to Parenting an Adult
Adapted from The Four Seasons of Recovery, or Parents of Alcoholics and Addicts, By Michael Speakman (founder of PAL) As parents, helping our children feels instinctive. When they are struggling,...
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