Peer support groups for family and friends are the most underused resource for caregivers in addiction. They are free, accessible (most have online options), and put you in a room with people who have lived your specific situation in a way no therapist can replicate.
Try more than one. Different fellowships have very different cultures, and “this isn’t for me” after one meeting at one group rarely generalizes. Online meetings are real meetings and they count.
A short note for 7-OH and kratom families
These substances are newer and often dismissed as “legal,” “natural,” or “just kratom.” Family members frequently report feeling gaslit, even by clinicians, when they try to describe what they’re seeing. The kratom-specific groups below are the most directly applicable; the opioid-specific groups (Learn to Cope) are also a strong fit, since dependence on 7-OH and the kratom synthetics is biochemically opioid dependence; and the substance-agnostic groups (Nar-Anon, SMART F&F) work because they don’t gatekeep or minimize. You don’t need to “qualify” to participate.
Groups most directly applicable to 7-OH and opioid families
Quitting Kratom Support (TIAWO)
Website: kratomquitters.com
A peer-led virtual community specifically focused on kratom and 7-OH recovery, run by people who have been through it. Welcomes both people in recovery and their loved ones. Daily online meetings hosted by volunteers. Not 12-step, closer to a peer-support model. Sometimes referred to by its founders’ phrase “There Is A Way Out.”
The 7-OH–specific angle is what makes this one valuable for the readership of this site. The other major groups (Nar-Anon, SMART F&F, Learn to Cope) are excellent and broadly applicable, but TIAWO will know the substances by name.
Learn to Cope
Website: learn2cope.org
A peer-led, secular peer-support organization originally founded by a mother who lost a son to opioid use disorder. Strong specialization in opioid-affected families, with extensive online presence and a particularly active forum. Free naloxone training and distribution at many chapter meetings. Especially relevant for families dealing with opioid-class dependence, which is what 7-OH and kratom synthetics are.
Meetings are mostly in Massachusetts in person, but the online community is national and active.
Nar-Anon Family Groups
Website: nar-anon.org
For family and friends of someone with a drug problem (any drug). 12-step, modeled on Al-Anon. The most directly applicable in-person fellowship for 7-OH and opioid families because the substances and the experience map cleanly. Wide network of in-person meetings, plus phone and online options.
If you want a 12-step framework and want to be in a room with other people whose family member is using drugs (not just alcohol), this is the most natural fit.
SMART Recovery Family & Friends
Website: smartrecovery.org/family
Secular, science-based, built on the CRAFT framework and motivational interviewing. Teaches evidence-based skills for influencing change in your loved one without confrontation or ultimatums. Free meetings, both in-person and online. Particularly useful if you want a structured skill-building approach rather than primarily a peer-sharing format.
If you’re going to read one book alongside attending meetings, Beyond Addiction (Foote, Wilkens, Kosanke, Higgs) is the CRAFT companion many SMART F&F participants reference.
Substance-agnostic but widely available
Al-Anon Family Groups
Website: al-anon.org
The largest family support network in the world. Named for and centered on alcoholism, but many groups welcome anyone affected by a loved one’s substance use, especially in areas where Nar-Anon isn’t available. Useful because of sheer availability, Al-Anon meetings exist nearly everywhere, at multiple times per day, in most US cities, plus a robust online and phone meeting structure.
Twelve-step. The fellowship is large and culturally varied, meetings differ a lot from each other, so if one doesn’t fit, try another. Many people who eventually settle into Nar-Anon or SMART F&F start at Al-Anon because that’s what their local community has.
Families Anonymous
Website: familiesanonymous.org
Broader scope including mental health and behavioral concerns alongside substance use. 12-step. Less common than Al-Anon or Nar-Anon but a real option if those don’t fit and a Families Anonymous group is nearby or online.
Adult Children of Alcoholics & Dysfunctional Families (ACA)
Website: adultchildren.org
For adults who grew up in addicted or dysfunctional homes. The focus is different from the other groups on this page, ACA is about how the family-of-origin shaped you, not about how to support someone currently using. (“ACA” here is Adult Children of Alcoholics, not to be confused with the Affordable Care Act.) If you’ve been doing the caregiver thing for a while and starting to wonder how much of the pattern was set in motion long before your current situation, this is the group that addresses that question.
12-step adapted.
GRASP, Grief Recovery After a Substance Passing
Website: grasphelp.org
For people who have lost someone to substance use. This is a different kind of group, peer grief support specifically for substance-related death, including overdose, suicide-while-using, and chronic medical complications of long-term use. Online and in-person meetings.
If this is your situation, you are not alone in it, and the silence around substance-related grief in many communities is exactly the gap this fellowship fills.
Choosing a group
A few practical notes:
- Try at least three meetings of any group before deciding. First meetings are often disorienting; the structure becomes clearer by the third.
- Try more than one group if the first one isn’t a fit. The differences between Nar-Anon, SMART F&F, and Learn to Cope are real and matter; you may resonate with one and not another.
- 12-step vs. secular vs. evidence-based skill-building is a genuine philosophical split. None is “the right one.” The right group is the one you’ll attend.
- Online and phone meetings count. They are not a lesser version. For many caregivers, the privacy and convenience are exactly what makes participation sustainable.
- You don’t have to be “ready” to attend. You can show up confused, angry, in shock, or unsure why you’re there. That’s most people’s first meeting.
CRAFT, the skill-building track
If you want to learn the CRAFT framework more deeply than a peer-support meeting will cover:
- Allies in Recovery: structured CRAFT learning, video modules, online community of trained CRAFT family members. Subscription-based with some scholarship options.
- SMART Recovery Family & Friends (above), runs CRAFT-based meetings and offers an online learning platform.
- “Beyond Addiction: How Science and Kindness Help People Change” by Foote, Wilkens, Kosanke, and Higgs.
- “Get Your Loved One Sober: Alternatives to Nagging, Pleading, and Threatening” by Meyers and Wolfe, shorter, more practical. Meyers is the foundational CRAFT researcher.
CRAFT is not a substitute for peer support; it’s a skill set you can bring into both your support group attendance and your daily interactions with the person you love.
Where to read next
- How to Talk to Your Loved One: for the in-the-moment skills CRAFT teaches
- Taking Care of Yourself: for what support groups complement
- Start Here: back to the section hub