Do Rehab Centers Offer Parenting Classes?

Parents, whether experiencing a substance use disorder (SUD) or not, sometimes do not have good parenting skills modeled by their own parents.

Having an SUD can make it even more difficult to parent effectively, due to the wide-ranging effects of drug and alcohol addiction.

This is why many addiction recovery centers offering parenting classes during their treatment programs.

Do Rehab Centers Offer Parenting Classes?

Yes, many do, because for many clients, achieving long-term sobriety also requires learning a broad range of life skills, including parenting skills.

Parenting classes may occur in both inpatient and outpatient settings. Parenting also may be the subject of support groups after a treatment program is completed.

The goal is not only to enhance a parent’s recovery but also to help parents identify when their children may be engaging in substance use, since addiction has a genetic link.

Why Rehab Centers Offer Parenting Classes

Parenting isn’t necessarily a natural skill. Most parents have to learn how to be good parents, and if they didn’t have good parents themselves, they may model unhealthy parenting.

Because addiction can run in families, many people with SUDs have parents or grandparents who lived with addiction.

They may have unintentionally passed down unhealthy ways of parenting due to the effects of their substance use.

Parenting classes in addiction recovery help parents identify unhealthy parenting and learn new ways of parenting that include offering unconditional love, clear communication, and healthy boundaries.

Topics Of Parenting Classes During Addiction Recovery

Parenting classes in addiction recovery programs may focus on a variety of topics to help parents, including general parenting skills and topics related specifically to parents facing addiction.

Child Development

One such topic is child development, which is often found in general parenting classes as well.

Understanding your child’s developmental milestones can help you provide age-appropriate boundaries, routines, and rules.

It can also help you identify when your child may require additional help with certain behaviors or skills.

General Parenting Skills

Parenting classes teach different ways to parent your child at developmentally appropriate stages. Parenting techniques that you would use for a toddler are not the ones you would use for a teenager.

These classes also teach you how to deal with challenging behavior as well as how to cope with your own emotions and frustrations as a parent.

Identifying Children’s Addiction Risk Factors

Children of parents who are facing addiction have a higher risk of experiencing addiction at some point in their lives.

Risk factors for addiction in adolescents and teens include:

• academic problems
• aggressive behavior
• risk-taking behavior

Parenting classes can teach parents not only how to identify risk factors but also how to be a positive influence in the lives of their children.

Research has shown that positive parenting can lower the risk of children becoming involved in substance use as teenagers or even later on as adults.

Family Therapy During Addiction Recovery

Rehab centers often offer parenting classes in conjunction with family therapy, depending on the needs of the client.

Parents who are overcoming addiction have the opportunity through family therapy to begin mending troubled relationships.

This may particularly be the case with parents of teenagers who have already begun to demonstrate high-risk behaviors.

Family therapy may give parents the opportunity to demonstrate change as a parent, develop communication skills, and help build trust with their child.

Find Substance Use Disorder Treatment Today

If you or a loved one is experiencing substance abuse, call us today to learn about your treatment options and how to get started with recovery.

Written by the Addiction Resource Editorial Staff