Biographical histories of gendered parental substance use: Messages from mothers to professionals as to what interventions help or hinder journeys of recovery

Abstract

This paper reports on data that is part of a wider evaluation of a small-scale project that offers support to parents, children and families affected by alcohol and substance use. Using semi-structured interviews and a focus group, the data in this paper explore mother's sense making of their substance use and their experiences of various professional interventions which have helped or hindered their personal journeys of recovery. Mothers' narratives suggested a self-critical inner dialogue conceptualized as shame. Fear of stigma and a sense of shame derived from historical abuse and had a profound effect on how mothers perceived themselves and how they negotiated a web of professionals involved in their lives. Community projects with a focus on understanding mothers and their needs, and not the risk they posed to their children, were considered most supportive. Interventions working within a nonjudgemental and empathetic framework that fostered the importance of relationships and connection had a greater impact on mothers' long-term recovery goals.

Investigating Maternal Mental Health and Emotion Regulation Among Mothers With Problematic Substance Use Participating in Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-up

“…Research suggests that a generalized avoidance of negative internal experiences (i.e., negative emotions), that are not necessarily trauma specific, may be present in individuals with PTSD (Naifeh et al, 2012). Perhaps, the desire to avoid negative emotions that can be elicited by engaging in parenting support may lead to a greater delay between early sessions, especially since early interventions sessions may be associated with increased feelings of vulnerability and anxiety for many parents due to having their parenting observed (Thompson, 2022). Given this, mothers who have a stronger preference for looking to others to enhance their positive affect may have longer time periods early intervention sessions.…”

Family-Based Intervention for Substance Using Parents: Experiences and Resource Use

“…Therefore, the non-judgmental treatment families receive from the social services is important. In addition, this approach has been demonstrated to be an important part of building supportive relationships with staff as it reduced patients' feelings of shame, something which could even act as a motivator to abstain from alcohol (McCallum et al, 2016) and help with recovery (Thompson, 2022). In addition to the social workers' accepting attitude, parents thought the information about additional support available to them and their older children, was useful.…”