Straight Talk from Claudia Black

Book excerpt: Best-selling author Claudia Black, PhD introduces readers to five different families facing addiction and demonstrates how recovering parents talked with their kids about substance use disorders. Talking with your kids about alcohol use, drug use, and addiction can be difficult for any parent. For recovering parents, conversations with your children about substance use disorders are even more complex, urgent, and personal. In this revised and updated edition, foremost recovery author Claudia Black provides clear direction and gentle support for discussing your addiction with your children. In Straight Talk from Claudia Black, you will meet five very different families and explore with Dr. Black how each of the parents handled discussions about recovery, relapse, and their children’s own vulnerability to chronic, compulsive behaviors. Dr. Black also addresses the latest research on genetics and addiction as well as practical prevention strategies for raising resilient children. While you can’t make up for the past in a few conversations, and you can’t completely protect your children from the ominous scope of addiction, you can, with Dr. Black’s intelligent and sensitive guidance, move closer to becoming the parent your children deserve—and the parent you most want to be.