Issues of fatherhood and recovery for VA substance abuse patients

Drug-addicted fathers bring to treatment many uncertainties about their relevance to their children. Whether they are in contact with their children or not, they often believe their children are better off without contact with them. In working with these fathers, the authors have observed these men raising a number of issues concerning the father role. These include having no concept of what a father should be, confusing the roles of manhood and fatherhood, feeling inadequate as a provider, and not knowing how to reconnect with children they have not seen, particularly daughters. The fathers also have to learn to deal with their own guilt concerning their abandonment of their children. Suggestions for interventions with the fathers are given and include offering a workshop for fathers where they are shown visual images of positive fathering and can discuss their own parenting experiences.