Parents in Recovery: Navigating a Sober Family Lifestyle

Mental health and drug and alcohol counselor Benton, who had already experienced seven years of recovery from an alcohol-use disorder before becoming a parent, wrote this guide to help parents and their families. This all-inclusive resource includes counsel for couples’ relationships, work and life balance, self-care, and even career navigation. Her book shows that parenting and addiction recovery are both arduous, and removing a substance doesn’t necessarily eliminate the behaviors that sparked and fueled the substance-use disorder. Benton asserts that a recovery lifestyle must be formed with a new pattern of beliefs and actions, allowing for ongoing growth which reduces the potential for relapse. Each chapter concludes with tips from other parents in recovery, and there are a few entries from the author’s own journal as well. She views recovery as a time of reclaiming identity, and this book equips readers to find balance, handle mental health conditions, form long-term plans, and more. She also addresses feelings of shame and concerns about children inheriting the genetic components of substance-use disorder.