The aim of this study was to examine how social workers in outpatient programs for drug and alcohol abuse explain the process of working with parenthood and the parental ability amongst clients with children. The study was conducted through qualitative interviews with five different social workers, who worked within an outpatient programs. The analysis was done through two different perspectives; one with focus on the clients engagement in different social systems and one regarding the clients relationships and interaction with others. The main findings of this study are that the outpatient programs work with parenthood is initiated through the client's own wishes to work on certain aspects of the parent-child relationship, and in dialogue with social workers and other members of the outpatient program. It was also discovered that children were involved in the therapeutic work to some extent, but that working with parenthood also revolved around the client being able to express feelings of shame and guilt, and how to overcome these feelings with the help of the social workers and fellow outpatients.