“Excellent and much needed; it offers children hope and a sense of control.”

-Kathleen Michael, M.H.S.S., Therapist & Consultant,

Toronto, Ontario

• Has drug or alcohol abuse in your family caused your child to become withdrawn or to act out?
• Is addiction in a family member contributing to upset and stress in your child?
• Do you want to help your child understand the problem and communicate about his/her feelings?
• Do you want to help your child develop healthier coping strategies?

I Can Be Me is a helping book for professionals and parents who want to help children of alcoholic parents.  Written for children ages 4 to 12, it can be read by a child alone or worked through with a caring adult.  Simple line drawings and text speak to children in a language they understand and are based on the real experiences of children with addicted parents.

Written from the perspective of children whose parents are addicted to alcohol and various other drugs, this book helps children take off the masks that hide their true feelings and educates them about alcohol or drug abuse in the family. Entertaining drawings and simple text make this book easy to understand and invite children to add their own thoughts and feelings.

Children often feel alone in homes where alcoholism or drug abuse is present.  I Can Be Me helps children understand more about addiction and realize that they are not to blame for their parents’ problems.  Through a series of creative exercises and activities children learn about healthy coping strategies and that they are not alone.

Eight separate units make this book an ideal companion to counseling or support group sessions.

Parents or counselors can also use a single section to address the unique concerns of an individual child.

I Can Be Me, A Helping Book, educates and supports children growing up with addicted family members. Children can suffer whether the addicted family member is a parent, sibling or other close relative.

Children often need help both during the family member’s phase of active drug abuse and through their struggle for recovery.

Core Topics

Chapter 1 – Can’t stop – focuses on the basics, teaching children about addiction and introducing some common experiences and feelings that children of chemical abusers share. Children learn they cannot cause or stop the addiction.

Chapter 2 – Feelings – focuses further on the typical feelings of such children and

encourages them to acknowledge and cope with their own.

Chapter 3 – Feeling Masks – addresses the defenses we use to hide our

true feelings and encourages children to find times when they can lower

their defenses, relax and be themselves.

Chapter 4 – A Family Problem – teaches about the repercussions a family

member’s addiction can have on all family members while validating

children’s typical reactions and encouraging them to adopt healthy coping

behaviors of their own.

Chapter 5 – Help Yourself – teaches children to focus on themselves, to

take care of themselves and to move toward more rewarding lives, despite

the family problem of addiction.

Chapter 6 – Decisions – focuses on the need to make good decisions and

provides a framework for helping children to develop sound decision-making skills.

Chapter 7 – Family Change – helps children to acknowledge the good things about their families and encourages them to build on these positive aspects.

Chapter 8 – Lots of Kids Like Us – stresses that children are not alone and that there are many others who share their problem and many places to find help. This chapter encourages children to break through their isolation and to obtain help, camaraderie and fun.

Dr. O'Connor, a psychologist, has written I Can Be Me to support children of alcoholic parents.  I Can Be Me provides parents, family members and helping professionals with a comprehensive, yet easy to implement resource that they can use to help children of alcoholic parents. Dr. O'Connor practices in < st1:place>Toronto, < s t 1 : c o u n t r y - r e g i o n > C a n a d a .  She also consults and conducts workshops with organizations and professionals about a range of topics that inhibit psychological well-being in children, as well as adults, including How to Help Children of Alcoholic Parents.