EP13 Invited Address 10 – The Addictive Family: The Legacy of Trauma – Claudia Black, PhD

Description:

When people think of trauma they often think of acute dramatic situations, such as a natural disaster or acts of terrorism. Yet, the majority of people who experience trauma experience a more subtle and chronic form that exists within their own family. Beginning with a genogram, Claudia Black, Ph.D., will give a portrait of addiction in the family, offering an overlay of how adverse child experiences, emotional abandonment and blatant violence are all aspects of the trauma. She will discuss shame screens, the ways people attempt to gain power over or succumb to their emotional pain, incorporating how trauma is connected to multi-addictive and co-occurring disorders.

Educational Objectives:

1. Identify how the trauma responses to flight, fight and freeze become acted out in the family impacted by addiction.
2. Describe both Big T and Little T traumas that frequently occur in a family impacted by addiction.
3. Explain the relationship of trauma to multiaddictive and co-occurring disorders.

*Sessions may be edited for content and to preserve confidentiality*

Outline:

Introduction and Background

• Dan Short introduces Dr. Claudia Black, known for her work in addictions and family systems.

• Dr. Black outlines her presentation structure—no Q&A during, but available after.

• She shares her early career in rape prevention and residential addiction treatment in the 1970s.

Creating Family Programs

• Developed family programs involving partners, spouses, and children.

• Separated families into age-specific groups due to lack of existing models.

• Early focus was teaching wives not to enable, later evolved into systemic family treatment.

Addiction’s Impact on Families

• Addiction affects the entire family, not just the addict.

• Case: Therese, a woman with anxiety/depression who repeatedly married addicts, echoing her traumatic childhood.

• Generational patterns of addiction and trauma seen across Therese’s family history.

Children and Generational Risk

• Therese’s children are at risk due to parental addiction and emotional neglect.

• Dr. Black emphasizes healthy parenting: meeting needs, role modeling, and communication.

• Fathers in the family are disengaged, weakening support systems.

Trauma in Addicted Families

• Trauma can be blatant (violence) or subtle (neglect, emotional absence).

• Substance-abusing homes have higher risks of physical/sexual abuse.

• Shame fuels the cycle of addiction—requires trauma-informed treatment.

Emotional Abandonment and Shame

• Children learn to hide their needs to be accepted, leading to self-abandonment.

• Shame-based beliefs create self-defeating behaviors in adulthood.

• Story shared of a woman who couldn’t identify her needs after years of caretaking others.

• Clients must learn to recognize and meet their own emotional needs.

Chronic Stress and Toxic Systems

• Chronic family stress alters children's brain development and emotional health.

• Can result in mood disorders, anxiety, and future addictions.

• Lasting recovery requires addressing both trauma and addiction.

• Addiction interaction disorder introduced: coexisting, intertwined addictions.

Therese’s Son: A Case Example

• Therese’s son enters treatment for substance abuse.

• Importance of treating both primary addiction and co-occurring trauma.

• Intergenerational loss and stress must be addressed in treatment.

• Tools like mindfulness and expressive arts reduce emotional reactivity.

Conclusion and Professional Guidance

• Healing requires validation, truth-telling, and realistic goals.

• Clinicians should ask direct questions about family history and trauma.

• Goals: reduce reactivity, set boundaries, and dismantle shame-based thinking.