Roy, author, writes three-volume book series to support parents with addicted relatives

By Dylan Reubenking/[email protected]

By Dylan Reubenking

[email protected]

When Roy resident James Baumann’s son was attacked by a dog, he became addicted to OxyContin. That’s when Baumann noticed a lack of resources for parents seeking help.

He founded a support group called Christian Parent Partner Recovery, a group specifically designed to help parents with substance-dependent children of all ages. Baumann shared his knowledge from his work as a minister and counselor, as well as his involvement in motorcycle and prison ministry.

After receiving positive feedback from parents in the group, he learned there was a demand for books to help parents with addicted children. Baumann decided to write a three-volume book series called “Hope for Parents with Addicted Loved Ones.” The first volume, subtitled “Discovery Through Immediate Response,” is now available at Barnes & Noble, Google, Kobo, and Spark.

“Some of the people who found it very helpful came to me and said, ‘Don’t just leave this alone. Expand the scope.’ They had a vision that I didn’t have,” Baumann said of the support group.

The books consist of notes from his small group sessions and research from around the country. The first book contains a message of hope, rather than the typical negative aspects of addiction, which Baumann described as “doom and gloom.”

“The most important thing is that it has a message of hope. Generally, all you hear about addiction is doom and gloom, that it’s a lifelong disease. The book tells parents that they are not alone in this,” he said.

The first book, released June 22, focuses on how parents can help their addicted children themselves, as well as outside treatment options. Baumann said his goal is to help parents understand the effects of addiction from biological, psychological, sociological, spiritual and holistic perspectives.

“I’m a pastor and a chaplain. I’m not trying to get rich or famous or anything like that. I pray that this will bring hope, peace and love to suffering parents around the world,” he said. “That’s my goal. It’s so important to be able to ease some of that pain.”

Although Baumann is a minister and chaplain, he stressed that the goal of his books is to provide hope regardless of the reader’s faith. He added that his worldview is shaped by Christianity, and he briefly explains how parents can turn to God for help and which Bible passages have helped parents with addicted loved ones.

“I know some people think, ‘Oh, this guy is a minister and a chaplain. He’s going to preach to me until my eyes roll back, and then he’s going to hit me with the Bible until they roll back to the front,'” Baumann said. “Out of the 26 chapters in the first volume, I think there are about four chapters that actually talk about God. People have questions like, ‘If there is a God, where is he in all of this, and why can’t he just heal my child?’ If those are the main questions, I need to be able to talk about God to answer those questions.”

The second book in the series picks up where the first leaves off, looking at how addiction affects the rest of the family. Baumann also discusses self-healing techniques. The third and final book looks to the future and explores how the family can be restored once self-healing is complete and boundaries are set.

The manuscript for volume two is finished and is expected to be published in about a year, with volume three following next year.

Baumann said he hopes the books will serve as a helpful resource for parents of children with addictions and help change society’s view of the role of parents in their children’s addictions.

“In my experience, in the early 2000s, parents were seen as the enemy and the cause of addiction. I think that’s still very common,” he said. “The constant mantra of ‘blame the parents’ is so ingrained in society that we’re unable to break free of it. But now we’re seeing an increasing shift in rehabilitation medicine toward parents as allies and co-victims of addiction. I think something is starting to change in addiction medicine. But society is at least 20 or 30 years behind.”

To learn more about Baumann and Hope for Parents with Addicted Loved Ones, visit his website at https://jamesdbaumann.com/index.php.