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Expert Resources for Supporting Loved Ones with Addiction

Discover expert insights and practical guidance from clinicians, researchers, and specialists to help parents, families and professionals support loved ones and community members with substance use disorder and addiction.

It can be hard to know how best support and care for an adult child. There is no playbook. It can sometimes be more challenging if they are not living at home, especially when you receive that panicked phone call they need help. While there are no one-size-fits-all answers to these concerns, we offer some suggestions as to ways you can maintain positive relationships with your adult children.
The Mental Health Justice Act would support sending trained mental health professionals instead of police to respond to behavioral health crises.
The SAFE in Recovery Act would make care more accessible for parents with SUD, prevent undue family separation, and ensure effective treatment and wraparound services are available to families.
Concerns about marijuana being laced with fentanyl are mostly untrue. Public health experts agree that the real danger of fentanyl comes from fake pills and drugs like heroin and cocaine, not marijuana.
In recent years, edible products containing THC, flavored alcoholic seltzers, and nicotine vapes are marketed to young people with sweet, fruity, and minty flavors. Companies pay influencers and celebrities to endorse them. Plus, the discreet packaging makes it easy to hide from adults.
Having co-occurring depression and substance use can make both conditions worse and harder to treat. A loved one may use substances to cope with their depression, but this can lead to using more and more of the substance to get relief.
Are your loved one’s concerning thoughts, emotions and behaviors the result of a mental health disorder or a substance use disorder? Determining differential diagnosis is important because treatment for a mental health disorder can be very different from treatment for a substance use disorder.
During their teenage years, children’s brains are still developing, and continue to do so until their mid-20s or later. Substance use during this time period can negatively interfere with this development. It’s vital to intervene you're worried about your teen using substances. In this guide, you'll find answers to questions caregivers like you have about talking to your loved one and keeping them safe.
Support can include recognizing that there is a problem; motivating them to get help; navigating the treatment system; and helping them sustain progress in recovery. It can be a significant emotional time and financial commitment, but research shows that family involvement improves outcomes.
Among all the recommended strategies out there for “effective parenting,” there are 10 key strategies that can really move the needle and one key strategy that can either increase or decrease the effectiveness of the other nine: parental modeling or how parents and caregivers act.
A form of treatment for alcohol use disorder that focuses on reducing use rather than complete abstinence, the Sinclair method may be an option to consider if your loved one is struggling with alcohol use.
The Moms Matter Act would invest in services to support pregnant and postpartum individuals with mental health and substance use disorders.
Test strips that can detect the presence of fentanyl, xylazine, and other adulterants in drugs are a critical harm reduction tool but are considered illegal drug paraphernalia in many states. The Ensuring Nationwide Access to Test Strips Act would ensure that test strips for all substances are permitted in all states.
Starting on the path to recovery can be challenging, but there is a new type of earpiece that may be able to help ease the pain of withdrawal symptoms and assist in the treatment process.
The Supporting Families Through Addiction Act will provide critical funding needed to expand the availability of support services for families impacted by addiction.
The Better Mental Health Care for Americans Act would expand parity protections and access to mental health and addiction services.
The Modernizing Opioid Treatment Access Act would reform methadone rules to help reduce stigma and increase access to the critical treatment.
The 2018 Farm Bill left a loophole for delta-8 and other synthetic hemp-derived compounds to proliferate unregulated. Congress should use this year's Farm Bill to regulate the products, which are dangerous and often designed to appeal to kids.