Ms Gwen McKenna:

We also provide the education part for families. This has been massive for us and really brilliant. Even though the Senator Black is in the Chair, this is not personal or anything. For us, it is about the knock-on effect for family members coming in and having access to this ten-week programme. They learn all about boundaries, addiction, themselves and how to change the drug dynamic within the home so the person with the addiction takes the consequences and takes responsibility for the choices he or she makes. The families still maintain a relationship with the person but they take care of themselves and come back to the focus of it. It struck me earlier how much chaos a person in addiction can cause. It the same with all the agencies around it.

The focus is still all on the person with the addiction and does not seem to be on recovery, resilience, inter-agency work and so on. That is just what struck me.