Fatherhood and Addiction: Recovery Services for Dads

Fatherhood and addiction recovery are two entities that take full-time commitments. Yet, you can only perform the former effectively by achieving the latter. That’s why rehab is a top priority for any parent struggling with a substance abuse disorder. Spero Recovery understands this and implements a strong 12-step process to give you the help you need without sacrificing your fatherly duties. Fatherhood and addiction don’t mix. Therefore, here’s everything dads need to know about addiction and how we can help you conquer your struggles.

a family on a hiking
a man with alcohol addiction with his son crying beside him

How Does Addiction Affect Fatherhood?

Addiction disorders have a profound impact on how you carry out your responsibilities as a parent. The extent of the following effects depends on the substance of choice, duration of use, and dosage.

Addiction has a tremendous impact on how you read, process, and react to circumstances. When it comes to fatherhood, substance abuse affects your discretionary responses greatly. That’s because addiction chemically alters your mind to respond less rationally than you normally would have.

There’s no doubt a father loves their children. Yet, when the brain’s genetic makeup has become compromised, it puts the addictive chemical in the driver’s seat for all decision-making processes. This means unbeknownst to the user, even a child’s financial, schooling, and nutrition needs can become mentally secondary. Therefore, a child can suffer from unintentional neglect because of the mental harm of a parent’s substance dependency.

Addictive substances influence the emotional regions of the brain that affect relationship-building and personable interactions. This can make it difficult for a substance-dependent parent to build relationships with their children. In worst-case scenarios, it can cause a parent to be completely disconnected from their child’s life. You can begin the healing and relationship-building process by reaching out to our caring team of family-oriented specialists.

What this simply means is addiction usually manifests itself in a faltering appearance. Whether through lack of hygiene, unkemptness, or a physically disheveled appearance, substance abuse shows itself in personal image. This in turn can affect your countenance and the positive example they need in their lives. To be clear, your children need you and you have the strength within to be the example they need you to be. Unfortunately, chemical dependency can prevent your many positive attributes from manifesting themselves. We’re here to help you restore the real you and enjoy your child’s most vital years of development.

How Does Addiction Affect Children

Many of the impacts parental addiction has on children are unseen mental effects rather than physical. Nonetheless, fatherhood and addiction are a harmful combination that reveals themselves in the following ways.

The saddest fact about substance abuse is it can cause one to do unthinkable acts. That includes subjecting children to emotional or physical abuse. Regardless of what fuels this abuse, these acts are the most serious and should be met with swift actions. If you suspect any red flags of abuse, reach out to the appropriate authorities and get therapy for all involved parties immediately.

Children learn by soaking up everything they observe at a very young age. When they observe a parent struggling with a substance abuse problem, that example can cause confusion in a child’s life. For example, when a child is taught that drugs are wrong, yet a parent exhibits the opposite, their decision-making abilities can be conflicted. This results in a setback in mental development, causing them to become indecisive and lack discretion when important decisions arise.

Whether a father is focused on trying to resolve or feed their addiction, either distraction results in a lack of child interaction. This causes a social disconnect between the connection that is most vital for a child’s social and academic development.  Many fathers who struggle with addiction don’t realize they are neglecting fatherly duties because mental dependency has taken control of their thoughts. We’ll teach you how to develop and build this most important bond with your child through our personalized treatment programs.

Though mental health disorder symptoms don’t arise until adulthood, most of these mental conditions stem from childhood trauma. Many of these traumas involve a parent with a substance abuse problem. Until a child reaches adulthood, it’s never too late to reverse the mental effects addiction has had on their development. You can begin the collective healing process by getting the help you need today.

Suffering grades is a sad side effect of when a child fails to get the academic attention they need at home. While it is a teacher’s job to help children learn at school, it is the parent’s job to help them learn at home. That means being aware of assignments, helping with homework, and teaching them to grasp the concepts their teachers are trying to implement. Because addiction is a difficult struggle, all of the aforementioned details can fall through the cracks unnoticed. Our dedicated experts are here to help you refocus your thoughts and efforts on the vital parenting priorities at hand.

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How Can You Protect Your Children From Drug and Alcohol

father and son hands on shoulderProtecting your children’s sobriety is as equally important or more important as protecting your own. That’s why preparing them for the temptations ahead can be their guiding light to make the right decisions along the way. Bearing that in mind, here are some preventative measures you can take to protect your children from substance abuse.

Teach Them the Importance of Saying “No”

It’s very easy to fall into the trap of being a people pleaser when your goal is to be accepted. That can make it hard to say no to social situations from people they want to feel accepted. Teaching your child the importance of saying “no” is key to protecting them from a hard life of substance dependency. Teach them that saying no empowers them, while saying yes, puts others in control of their circumstances.

Remind Them Who Their True Friends Are

When you’re an adolescent or teen, it’s always a goal to fit in with those you consider cool. This often clouds a child’s better judgment to recognize the people who truly care about them. That’s why a large part of helping your child make the right decisions starts with the influences in their life. That’s why it’s so vital to teach and remind your children that the right influences are the ones who accept them for who they are. Correlatively, helping them understand that people who accept them only for doing certain activities are not people who truly care.

Help Them Consider the Consequences

A part of being a teenager involves living in the moment. However, that mentality proves detrimental to decision-making. Therefore, planting the thought in your child’s mind that every action has consequences, could help them demonstrate proper discernment. Thankfully, Spero Recovery has in-depth training methods to help you implement these life-changing thought processes in your child’s life. Speak to a compassionate representative to learn more about how we can help you help your child.

Share Your Story

You can help your child by sharing your addiction background. Sharing your addiction battle and how it started can make the consequences real to them. Opening up to them about your pain and troublesome road will help them think twice about embarking on a similar journey. Whether you currently consider yourself a good example or a bad example, your story could change their life. Doing so can also open the door to developing and building a long-lasting bond.

How Does Spero Recovery Help Fathers Recover?

fatherhood and addictionAt Spero Recovery, we utilize our meticulously individualized 12-step process to help fathers thrive in rehab. The following aspects of our recovery system vary depending on your personal recovery needs.

We Involve the Family

Some fathers recover better in a private setting while others thrive by getting the family involved. Getting the family involved helps open up the waves of communication with complete transparency while encouraging togetherness throughout the process. This enables you, your children, and the family unit to heal together while providing the support backbone you need.

We Help Restore Your Priorities

Addiction takes a toll on your mental psyche so much that it distorts your priorities. Our men’s residential treatment program gives you the attentiveness, tools, and determination you need to stabilize the frequencies addiction has destabilized. This includes one-on-one counseling sessions, and building connections with like-minded individuals all arriving toward the common goal of full recovery.

We Strengthen Your Family Bonds

Beyond simply getting the family involved, our caring specialists identify rifts and help you grow together as a family. That’s why we pride ourselves in strengthening your relationships by helping you and your children grow together in a healthy environment. Learn more about how we can help you mend family bonds and your relationships in our top-notch treatment programs.

Our 12-step Immersion Therapy for Dads

There’s no better way to navigate through fatherhood and addiction equally effectively than our in-depth 12-step immersion therapy. Our thorough techniques have been a life-changing and burden-lifting experience for the dads who choose our unparalleled treatment methods. Your journey to enjoying a life filled with memories of you and your children begins here. Call today to begin recovery.

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For more information on what Spero Recovery does and how we can help, give us a call. You are not alone. We are here to help!