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I could cure my parents but no one will let me
Zara McQueen, Head of Service for Families Plus and Emma Gulliver, Project Manager M-PACT (UK), Action on Addiction, Salisbury, Wiltshire
Abstract
This workshop is about the children of substance misusing parents and the work that Action on Addiction's Families Plus is undertaking to support whole families where the children are or have been impacted by parental addiction. Moving Parents and Children Together (M-PACT) has been piloted and evaluated by the Mental Health Research and Development Unit at the University of Bath with encouraging results.
The workshop will consist of a presentation about M-PACT itself, why Families Plus developed this intervention (i.e. as a response to the Hidden Harm Report 2004) its aims, objectives, what it is hoped can be achieved by taking part in this programme. Examples of the young peoples' perceptions, thoughts and feelings will be presented, as well as a real and honest account of the professional and ethical dilemmas faced by the workers engaged in such work. The conflict between the search for "hidden harm" and what then can happen if we don't like what we find?
Part of the workshop will consist of an exercise that the families themselves do during an M-PACT session, adapted for those in the room and in the context of the issues raised in the session. This should result in some lively discussion and debate.
Finally the workshop will look at ways forward in relation to M-PACT (UK) the project to roll out the programme with the aim of reaching as many children as possible, by training professionals across disciplines to undertake this intervention under licence.
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Biography
Zara is Head of Service for Families Plus, a division of the charity -Action on Addiction dedicated to meeting the needs of families and carers affected by addiction. She began her career in working with children and families in 1980 and following a background in Children and Families Social Work she joined Clouds in 1999 as a Family Counsellor in the Residential Treatment Centre. Her previous role as leader of Therapeutic Services for Families Plus involved leading the Residential Family Programme alongside other services for family members and carers.
Her team has since developed the Moving Parents and Children Together Programme (M-PACT) an intervention aimed at supporting the children of substance misusing parents. Maintaining her particular interest in the field of child protection she is responsible for the writing and implementation of Action on Addictions Safeguarding Policy and Procedures. Zara is an experienced trainer who is accredited by the University of Bath to train professionals on working with families affected by substance misuse.
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