Asking for a friend who needs support and guidance raising a child with an alcoholic ex. She is beyond stressed and seriously overwhelmed that although she has separated with her ex, due to his drinking, by involving him in their 5 year old sons life his alcoholism affects their every day.
As an example she arranged for the father to see the son in her home and they had a nice visit however he reeked of alcohol and she suspects he had been drinking prior to the visit. The visit was in the morning. The son knows when daddy has been drinking as dad has had alcohol (or addiction) issues most of his young life.
The childs school has also become involved and if the father attends school for any reason for example sports day my friend will usually get a call from the principle with concerns about him smelling of alcohol and concerns about intoxication, especially during these events when he may get excited.
My girlfriend is adamant that a boy needs his father and that she needs to keep him involved but then it is really affecting her where she feels like she will never be able to move on and will be dealing with this for the rest of her life. She has restricted him to supervised visitation and he isnt allowed to drive with the child. I am able to empathize but I feel she needs advice or help with strategies from other people who have lived what shes living.
Has anyone been in a similar situation who could point her in the direction of a support system or group. Is there a group like AA but for the families affected by alcoholics, are there any good single mum fb pages that may have support for dealing with alcoholic ex's. We are in SA. Please we are not asking for advice or judgement on her situation (she knows its crappy and shes a good mum who takes good care of her boy), just support group help. Thanks in advance.
1 Replies
Yes she can get support from Al-anon