Drinking problems generally have a profound effect upon the family of the drinker. The spouse or partner and the children are the people commonly drawn into the drama, but parents, brothers, sisters, uncles or aunts or grandparents may in some way be involved. The nature of the involvement can be in terms of another person experiencing the adverse impact of the drinker's behaviour, the family's interaction in the genesis of the drinking problem, the family members' unhelpful connivance with or encouragement of the drinking problem, or, most positively, in terms of someone other than the drinker being able to aid the process of recovery.

A person with a drinking problem may appear to have lost all links with their family. Even so, they may harbour strong emotions in respect of those relationships which have been severed by death, dysharmony or neglect and it is likely that similar feelings are experienced by the estranged relatives. Where these relatives are alive, and if they can be traced, the question of renewing contact may arise. This can present a major challenge, both to the coping skills of the client and to the professional skills of the therapist.

The present chapter describes certain important aspects of family interaction, while full discussion of therapeutic implications is postponed to Chapters 17 and 19 of this book. Readers seeking a more detailed review of the impact of drinking problems upon children and spouses/partners should refer to Sher (1991), Velleman and Orford (1999) and Hurcom et al. (2000).