Families in today's society face a number of factors that make it difficult to create the "traditional American family." Many families have grandparents who act as parents, single-parent families, and teenagers who struggle with addiction and behavior issues. Families are extremely affected by drug and alcohol addiction and family therapy can play a major role in helping affected family members. Many marriages end in divorce and children inherit the disease of addiction. Alcoholism is a silent killer of the American family dream. Some of the problems related to alcoholism in the family are behavioral problems with family members, mental health problems within the family, and the effects of alcoholism on children. The family system has changed since the dawn of time. Families can be comprised of any race, ethnicity, cultural background, and gender and still be successful. Many families face stressors that are sometimes unexpected. These unforeseen stressors have led to divorce becoming more and more common. Many factors lead to divorce, but addiction adds an extra level of stress to families. When families struggle with alcohol addiction, changes related to the failure of the family structure increase significantly. Today, more than half of marriages end in divorce, and a growing number of at least one party claims their spouse is an alcoholic. Kelley and Fals-Stewart (2002) suggest that marital and family treatment for alcohol abuse and dependence may result in more positive outcomes for couples and families. married couples, as opposed to those whose spouses did not participate in treatment. According to Kelley et. al (2002), nearly 30% of adult women and 18% of adult men who are drug addicts live with children. This results in m...... middle of paper ......nt, 2 individual caregiver sessions, and 2 sessions with the caregiver and adolescent. During each session, the teen will work on core skills to support sobriety: coping skills, communication skills, relapse prevention, drug refusal, and anger management, among others. When the caregiver(s) participate in the session, the therapist briefly describes the procedures and then allows the adolescent to involve the caregiver and explain the procedure further. Family addiction counseling sessions are extremely important. Family understanding and healing are essential for the addict to remain sober. Alcoholism is a family disease that will continue to surface if only one part of the infected family seeks help. Family counseling can literally save the lives of addicts and breathe new life and hope into other family members..