DIY: defeat, identify, yearn

Your work is to discover your world and then with all

your heart give yourself to it Buddha
Kathryn Maass
Family-Based Prevention
Program
Targets children in unstable home environments
whose parents suffer from alcohol addictions or
mental illnesses themselves
Main goal: to get children to not abuse alcohol by
learning tools of control and moderation
Modeled after the person-in-environmental model
Changes in the environment, especially in households
where parents suffer from alcoholism, can help the
child be aware and avoid the pressures to over-drink
How?
Focus on three aspects: knowledge, behaviors, and attitudes
Knowledge: know the disease and your child
Knowing the risks of alcoholism, including risks of depression, cancer,
and cirrhosis
Teaching the parents good communication skills and how to recognize
problems arising in a child
Behaviors: set an example and be that example
Strong disciplinary action that is consistent and upheld
Stable parent and child relationship
Attitudes: know that today is only one day and tomorrow will come
Stress the importance of open communication between the parents
and the child
Support and affection from the parent to the child
Knowing that you are not your parent
it is OK to have a drink, every now and again


When, Where and Who?
WHO: Participation will include both the parent and the
children at risk
Focus on first addressing underlying issues with the parent,
then on creating a stable relationship between the two
This will allow kid to feel safe in their home and reduce the
risk of developing an addiction to alcohol
WHEN: participants will meet once a week for the first 6
months and if improvement is noted, then once a month for
the remainder of the year
WHERE: in a neutral space, preferably a community center
such as a YMCA
Once comfortable, could move the meetings to the home to
help both the parent and the child better adapt
Results
Results will be seen through the following:
Decreased use of alcohol by the parent and in the home
Moderate use of alcohol by the children once they reach
the legal age
No cirrhosis development in the children
Expression of opposition by the children to the
alcoholism of the parents
Showing up for additional counseling sessions
Being open to the need for help
Knowledge of alcoholism by the children
Understand the facts so make rational decisions