The Silent Victims

People often say that addiction is a personal struggle a fight that takes place in the person's mind body and spirit. But this book aims to show that addiction affects more than just the person who is addicted. It is a relational crisis that affects families communities and faith traditions leaving behind silent victims whose wounds are rarely recognized let alone healed. As a counselor pastoral caregiver and psycho-spiritual therapist for many years I have seen how deeply families suffer when someone in their family is addicted. The pain they feel is often hidden: the worried parent who can't sleep at night the spouse who goes from hope to despair and the child who learns to deal with chaos by being quiet or laughing. These are the stories that inspired this work: the stories of people who love deeply suffer in silence and want to get better. This book came about because I believe that families need more than sympathy; they need understanding power and real ways to start over. The biopsychosociotechno-spiritual model shown here is not just a theory; it is something that people live every day shaped by clinical practice theological reflection and cultural sensitivity. It understands that addiction is not just a matter of willpower or moral failure; it is a complicated mix of biological weaknesses psychological wounds social dynamics technological influences and spiritual longing.