About Lifeline for anyone

At the Family Service, we recognise that the substance misuse of someone we care for can affect the whole family and how we interact with one another.

Our services are facilitated by qualified professionals who are experienced in a wide range of issues surrounding families, individuals and substance misuse.

We offer a Family group, Family Mediation Sessions, a telephone help-line and one to one support and assessment.

Family group

In the Family group we aim to strike a balance between sharing and gaining insight into one another’s experiences and picking up skills to help raise our awareness and better manage the family situation.

The group runs for 12 weeks and we cover many issues and give lots of practical tips and ideas.

Common problems people previously attending have encountered include:

“She keeps promising me she’ll stop, but keeps going back on drugs”
“He steals from me & hassles me for money”
“I can’t think about anything else,”
“I’m so ashamed, I’m his mother, was it something I did wrong?”

The meetings are a safe space to explore everything and provide an appropriate time and place where we can figure out where we’re at and what to do next.

We can’t do miracles but we do everything we can to help everyday people make the little changes that make a difference.

Family Mediation

Mediation involves members of the family sitting down with a trained Lifeline member of staff and discussing what can be done to move forwards.

It might be a couple whose son or daughter has been using and they are experiencing problems in their own relationship, or couples where one of them uses themselves. Sometimes it can be a whole family who attend.

Telephone Helpline

The helpline is open from 7pm – 9pm 7 days a week. If you feel you need to talk to someone about your situation, the phone line is run by friendly staff who are experienced in supporting families affected by someone else’s substance misuse.

How can these services help me?

We’ve heard people say things like “I don’t use drugs – it’s my son who needs help, not me”. This is true, but we recognise that you have to deal with all the stress and emotional roller-coasters that caring about that person brings. It can be difficult to know whether the help you’re giving is actually helping.

If you decide to call us and find out more, you can be sure that everything here is private and confidential. No one will know you have been in touch if you don’t want them to. We will ask you things like –‘Can we say who’s calling if someone else answers the phone?’

All services are free and you won’t be asked to make any ongoing commitment.

What have you got to lose? If you would like to get in touch but are unsure about something, give us a call and we’ll do our best to help you.