The Benefits Of Family Involvement For The Recovery Process

Drug and alcohol addiction not only affects the addict but the family as well. Even if you aren’t the one who has succumbed to an addiction, the fact that it’s someone in your inner circle is what makes it personal. Since addiction is a family problem, the process of recovery needs to include the whole family. Here at Southeast Addiction, we understand the importance of coming together as a family during these difficult times. That is why we have bridged the gap and created a dedicated family systems program, making it easier for your family to support you. We will be discussing the benefits of a family program and how it can veer you straight on the journey of recovery.

Addiction And The Impact On The Family Dynamic

Addiction is a disease that progresses over time, changing the family dynamic over several months or years. Since addiction can run in the family, it’s important to involve family members that are directly impacted by the addictions. Family therapy is a conducive space, which allows everyone involved to air their grievances in a non-judgmental setting. As the addict is continuing to vocalize their struggles, it will help to establish structure in the family dynamic. 

Family members should be receptive to this and embrace their new roles so that they can healthily support their loved one who is enduring these struggles. As hard as it is, enabling and codependency won’t do someone who is suffering, any favors. Families need to be assertive, but supportive with them, and it’s possible to do this without sabotaging the recovery process. 

Our family systems program at Southeast Addiction provides families with the tools to work through these hardships and identify the negative behaviors that are stunting their progression. We address a variety of topics in these sessions. This includes the disease model of addiction, the impact it has on the family unit, establishing healthy boundaries, and much more. 

Family Interventions Can Streamline The Recovery Process

When your family is confronting you about your addiction, this is known as an intervention. Counselors and addiction specialists can advise you on which intervention method is sufficient for dealing with your family member. This new chapter of healing is no easy feat, and the guidance from professionals will alleviate much of the stress if you had to solve this all on your own. Don’t allow these issues to fester as supporting an addict can take its toll on many aspects of your life. 

Substance abuse can cause your family to deal with financial issues, loss of trust, development of mental illness, or risk of disease. Addiction treatment centers can facilitate these conversations between patients and their family members, which is beneficial for achieving the ultimate goal of recovery.

Repairing Family Bonds

Isolation is one of the most common traits that an addict will display. The severity of this will vary for every family, but often time the person battling addiction will push their loved ones away, in favor of making the addiction the priority. When this happens, this person may miss out on important events and family obligations. The beauty of being involved in their recovery is that many of these issues of communication and isolation can be resolved if all parties involved agree to work on them together. When participating in these discussions, it allows you and your family to tackle the challenges that have plagued you up until this point. Doing this for the long term will help to strengthen and repair family bonds. 

Learning More About Triggering Behaviors

Everyone battling addiction will have triggers. Families may not understand this from the get-go, but certain thoughts, feelings, emotions, people, places, and situations can contribute to an addict’s behavior. Being distant from your loved one that is suffering will not help them. You need to actively participate in these therapy sessions. Try to help them in realizing what is causing these triggers, which will make it easier to mitigate other issues like a relapse.

Unconditional Love And Support

Being involved every step of the way goes a long way in showing this person how much you love and support them, during these difficult times. The journey of overcoming addiction can be lonely. If an addict feels that they need to fend for themselves, they may forgo their efforts of trying to get better. When family members are involved, this is of little to no concern, since the support system is there as a guiding light. Being there as a pillar of strength for an addict means you can see their progression in real-time. Recovery is an important part of an addict’s journey. Your involvement will speak volumes about the amount of love you have for them.

Getting Started With A Family Systems Therapy Program

We welcome everyone to join our family program, as it’s included with many of our conventional treatment services. Southeast Addiction recognizes that a variety of families want to stay on top of their loved one’s process of recovery and we will work diligently to facilitate these initiatives. If you’re interested in learning more about our family programs, please contact our team today!