AIM

The Addiction and the Family International Network promotes, through research, practice and policy, the well-being of family members, friends and colleagues who are affected by, and/or concerned about another person’s problems with or addiction* to alcohol, drugs or gambling.

Family Members' Experiences

Family members and others who are affected by addiction* have received far less attention than they deserve. Their experiences need to be better publicised and their voices better heard. They have a vital role to play in understanding and responding to addiction* and have a right to receive appropriate services themselves.

Website: Who for

People involved in research, practice or policy-making or who are experts through experience. If you are looking for information, international collaboration or assistance, then please join. Membership is free of charge.

*Addiction

Using the word addiction can be controversial and emotive, to both practitioners and affected family members (AFMs), as it can imply only extreme problems and this can mean that some AFMs do not seek support. For AFINet, we are using the word as a short-hand: the issue for AFINet is whether AFMs feel they have been affected by somebody else's use of alcohol and/or other drugs, gambling or other excessive behaviours. So, the focus is on the AFMs experience and not the nature and severity of the problem.
The founders of AFINet (see About/Background) developed the Stress-Strain-Information-Coping-Support Model and the 5-Step Method, and once AFINet was created it became their ‘home’. For this reason there is a section of this website devoted to them. However, there are various methods which have been developed to assist the well-being of AFMs and AFINet supports all of them.

Latest News and Research

AFINet Newsletter July 2023 (issue 17)

18 Aug 2023 News & Research

Gallus Bischof reflects on a successful conference in Rotterdam, the Netherlands held in June, and plans...

AFINet Conference 15-17 June 2023 in Rotterdam

14 Aug 2023 News & Research

We held a really interesting conference with 95 delegates from 24 countries and had over 55...

AFINet webinar - Wednesday 20th September 2023

08 Aug 2023 News & Research

Date: Wednesday 20th September 2023, 10am UK time (11am Germany etc; 12 noon Finland; 7pm Eastern...

Webinar Series

21 Sep 2022 News & Research

Every 2 months, we hold a webinar- for future webinars see...

AFINet Newsletter Dec 2022 (Issue 15) published

03 Aug 2022 News & Research

As you read through this, our 15th newsletter, you will note that we continue to make adjustments to our...

Podcast Impact Addiction on the Family

18 Jul 2022 News & Research

Title: https://anchor.fm/recovery-talks/episodes/S3-Episode-1-The-Impact-of-Addiction-on-Families-e1g16mb

New Book Invites AFMs to the Inside of Recovery

18 Jul 2022 News & Research

Traditional rehab centers for treating men and women with substance use disorders often relegate...

New York Times Article: Codependency is a toxic myth in Addiction Recovery

12 Jul 2022 News & Research

Published 8 July 22 With over seven million copies sold, Melody Beattie’s 1986 best seller, “Codependent No...

Article: What About Affected Family Members of Disordered Gamblers During the COVID-19 Pandemic? A Study in Italy During the Lockdown Restrictions

05 May 2022 News & Research

A very interesting article about the sufferance of gamblers’ AFMs during Covid-19 lockdown in Italy by...

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