"Counselling and practical advice for parent of addict"

My adult daughter fell off the tightrope of life and ended up homeless and a heroin addict. The local Inclusion addiction service put me in touch with Parent Support Link, their affiliated charity. My counsellor has guided me through the nightmare of my daughter's journey, with psychological support founded on their own experience as parent of an addict and on their interaction with many other parents; with practical advice about what I might do in a given situation, for myself, or for my family, or for my daughter; and with an informed viewpoint about my daughter's mindset and behaviours.

Their suggestions have included advice on support services: how these operate, whom to contact, or 'maybe you could approach X, they might help in this way..' which I had not known about. I was sceptical before first contact, but from our first conversation I have found huge, huge value in our talks in terms of help which is practical, emotional, increases understanding, boosts morale.

When I have been desperate at some latest turn of events, my counsellor has been able to help me see things in a new perspective, and either process them in a new way or accept them as a normal part of the journey that they've encountered many times before. My counsellor has always been non-judgemental, informed, empathetic, objective, forward-looking and all round has been a support that I could not imagine getting anywhere else.

Appointments by phone have always taken place as arranged, with the option to reach out in need for an emergency talk. I simply cannot overstate the tremendous help that they have been to me. I shall be forever grateful. I strongly recommend close friends and family to reach out to PSL for their own benefit and for the benefit of the addicted person.