MASHPEE – Parents Supporting Parents is a non-profit support group hosting weekly meetings for parents and family members who are coping with a child dealing with addiction.
Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the 501(c) status group has transitioned its meeting format to the virtual space.
Linda Cubellis, President of Parents Supporting Parents, said that the group setting is an effective way to help families who may be struggling to find proper help and support, especially during the ongoing pandemic.
“The shame of addiction needs to change. We need to accept it as a disease. We need to embrace it and get the help out there to the families. I hope that we’re going to be able to provide the resources to parents, where they can go, what they can do, and good sober living facilities,” said Cubellis.
“I want the word to get out that there is help, that there is people who have been through this for many years and know the ropes.”
Cubellis said that it can be overwhelming when parents first learn about their child’s addiction, and that parents can initially feel extremely isolated from their friends and community at large.
She said that after her own family’s experience with addiction, she wanted to speak up and let others who are suffering with similar issues know that they are not alone and that there is support for them.
According to Cubellis, having support from people who have been through similar experiences can be helpful, and that the Parents Supporting Parents group has even had people recommended to them from counselors for that reason.
“When you first come into this and you learn your child is addicted, it is completely heartbreaking. You’re completely overwhelmed, you don’t know where to turn, you don’t want to tell your friends. That’s where you are when you are initially faced with this,” said Cubellis.
“If we’re embarrassed about our own children, then what does that say to them? They’re sick and they need help. We need to, with the help of each other, get through this so that they can get the help that they need,”
Cubellis said that sober living programs can take 9 months or more to be truly effective, so long term support in a structured sober house is a necessity for prolonged, consistent treatment.
Cubellis said that group members share their experiences with different treatments and can help one another on the right path.
Parents at the meetings are as close as brothers and sisters, said Cubellis, though she would like to see more men attend the meetings.
She stressed the importance of parents being united and on the same page when it comes to getting assistance, and invited fathers to join their Parents Supporting Parents meetings as often as mothers do.
More information on Parents Supporting Parents can be found at capecodpsp.com.
Parents Supporting Parents meets every Monday evening at 6:30 pm through Zoom, except on the first Monday of each month when the meeting starts at 7 pm.
Participants are asked to email the group at [email protected] to be added to the Zoom meeting list.
About Grady Culhane
