Growing up with an alcoholic parent can often mean a lifetime of low self-esteem, failed relationships and addiction.

"Most people feel that when they leave that home, they leave the baggage behind," said Szifra Birke, a Lowell resident who has worked as an executive coach and psychotherapist for the past three decades.

But that usually doesn't happen. Children of alcoholics often don't connect their chaotic childhood with their fears and feelings of not belonging, according to Birke.

"There was a lot of media attention to this in the '80s and early '90s. Everyone from Oprah to Suzanne Somers was talking about their alcoholic parent," said Birke. "This whole issue has fundamentally gone underground. I just felt sort of haunted by the renewed secrecy and shame."

In an effort to help those with alcoholic parents, Birke is offering free downloads of Together We Heal: A Real-Life Portrait of Group Therapy, the stories of a support group of adults who grew up with alcoholic parents. As an extension of Children of Alcoholics Week, which ran from Feb. 13 to 19, Birke is allowing readers to download a free copy of the book through tomorrow.

In the past, it would have been too expensive to give away the book, but with the advent of technology, anyone can download the book free as a PDF document, Birke said.

"I'm mostly hoping that the people who have the opportunity to read the book and connect what they're feeling today with their past," said Birke, a Lowell resident.

An estimated 28.6 million Americans are children of alcoholics, with nearly 11 million of those younger than 20, according to the National Association for Children of Alcoholics. NACA said many of these children grow up in a chaotic environment offering little stability or emotional support, which often keeps them from living happy and normal lives.

Birke co-wrote the 2004 book with Kathy Mayer, a former member of a support group Birke led in Indiana in the mid-1980s. The book details a 16-week group therapy session with 10 characters talking about the struggles and victories of growing up with alcoholic parents. Birke and Mayer are themselves in the book, while the other eight characters are composites of adult children of alcoholics, according to Birke.

"Just reading about other people who have the same thoughts and experiences, that alone is very healing and that alone is often enough to build confidence and get people to seek help," Birke said.