Whether you are a biological parent or guardian of a child, you have probably gone to great lengths to protect that young person from illness and injury. Yet having a child succumb to the disease of addiction can still come as a shock, leaving families unprepared for the consequences. Parents often find that they blame themselves or each other for a child’s substance abuse, or that they resent their teenager for getting involved with a “bad” crowd of kids or for disobeying household rules.