FAMILY SERVICES
THE WHOLE PICTURE
T here’ s a long-standing saying,‘ addiction impacts the whole family’ – and we know this to be true. Research shows that alcohol and drug problems can be passed across generations through complex biological, psychological, and social processes. Trauma often plays a significant role in this cycle, and domestic abuse is a particular challenge for many of the women accessing our drug and alcohol services.
While the majority of the parents we support are mothers, we also work with dads whenever it’ s safe and appropriate to do so, ensuring that every family receives the care and understanding they need.
But whether the whole family unit stay together to recover, or whether it’ s a case of keeping mum and children safely together away from harm, the argument for combined treatment is compelling – as we’ ve seen during the past three years at Harper House, our fullyfunded family service in Scotland. This month Harper House celebrates its third birthday, and
Substance use problems affect the whole family, says Donatella Olisterno, which means that family-centred residential services are an invaluable resource
in that short space of time we’ ve seen more than 100 families walk through our doors seeking support. We’ ve also expanded our referral pathways and our outcomes demonstrate that family-focused services really do work. For example, we know that 79 per cent of adults who have completed treatment at Harper House continue to be supported by our aftercare team, and 63 per cent of families discharged remain together. Even among the few families who didn’ t finish residential treatment, 27 per cent still opted to complete aftercare – testament to their resilience and ongoing family bonds and aspirations for recovery.
So how does it work? Put simply, family-focused residential services help families to stay together during recovery, acknowledging the unique needs of different family members, including partners( where appropriate) and children. To enable this, service facilities need to be designed to incorporate children’ s spaces and nurseries, and rooms need to be big enough to accommodate multiple beds and cots. Staff teams also need to incorporate not only
Research shows that alcohol and drug problems can be passed across generations through complex biological, psychological, and social processes.
drug and alcohol skills, but parenting, child development and educational skills too. There are three core elements of support within Harper House( and other family services run by Phoenix Futures, including Sheffield Family Service). These include therapeutic interventions for parents – built around Phoenix Futures’ therapeutic communities / peer support approach – as well as evidencebased parenting skills development and specialist childcare and child development support.
And while we do have a structured timetable of activities for families, we also know there needs to be a degree of flexibility to help meet the needs of families who might be on different stages of their journey. For example, some families may have older children living with grandparents, and rebuilding those parent / child bonds by allowing them to stay on a flexible or part-time basis is paramount. In fact, since January 2024, almost half of children joining Harper House have done so on a part-time basis to gradually rebuild those relationships.
Our formal referral pathways have also diversified, and we can now say that 20 per cent of admissions come from expectant mothers through the antenatal pathway, and almost 20 per cent are children who are placed in local schools whilst they are staying with us. We’ ve also worked with seven families through our reconciliation pathway, helping families that have been separated through substance use and the justice system to come back together.
Every day we see huge gains in trust, stability and connection. We know that family rehabilitation genuinely does transform lives, and we hope that our services can serve as a blueprint for other organisations to achieve similar outcomes. Donatella Olisterno is registered manager at Phoenix Futures’ Harper House
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