Benefits Of Family Therapy During Addiction Treatment
02/02/19: Addiction Recovery
According to The National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, addiction is considered a family disease. Yes, that’s right—a family disease. Addiction affects family dynamics on several levels, not just the person suffering from addiction. Family members who love and care for someone suffering from addiction to drugs and/or alcohol often feel helpless because they want to ‘fix’ their family member. This can put greater amounts of stress and pressure on not just the addicted family member—particularly guilt-driven—but on the family members themselves. Because this stress and disruption of everyday ‘family’ life can be financially and emotionally trying and even frightening for family members, it’s wise to consider the benefits of family therapy during addiction treatment and how it can benefit an entire family.Family Therapy During Addiction Treatment Can Heal the Family
Sadly, when family members gather to help their addicted loved one, the course of addiction can create coping strategies within family members that are simply not healthy. Family members may walk on tiptoes in an effort to not rock boats and ‘trigger’ their addicted family member, and in turn, family dynamics become fragile and often dysfunctional themselves. Centers like Arizona Addiction rehab recognize that supporting the family while a loved one is going through addiction treatment helps create stronger paths to healing for all. Particularly in families where an addicted parent has children, it’s important that the entire family understands exactly what is going on (to the extent that their developmental stage allows) and how to help support their addicted loved one while ensuring their family dynamics stay strong and they maintain healthy coping strategies.What Happens in the Family With Addiction?
In families with an addicted family member, there are many ways the family as a whole is affected. Often, family members will initially experience negative emotions and feelings like anxiety, guilt and embarrassment about their family member. Family members will often go into denial about what is really happening with their addicted family member and the healthy structure and boundaries within family members is changed due to behaviors like enabling or codependency. Family members also often have difficult communication, as the member suffering addiction takes precedence with needs and wants, and the rest of the family can feel overwhelmed with additional responsibility and very poorly supported themselves. Going through family therapy during addiction treatment can help the addicted member understand the feelings of their family, and the family to see how they do in fact play a role in the healing and road to recovery for the family member.What Does Family Therapy During Addiction Treatment Do?
There are numerous advantages of the entire family going through therapy during Arizona addiction rehab treatment. Most importantly, the rehab staff wants to help the entire family rebuild healthy and functional relationships during the course of the addiction treatment program. The trusted staff know that so often, family relationships have possibly been severely damaged even before treatment ever began, and family therapy that allows loved ones to have professional guidance can open the path to restoration and reconciliation of family bonds. Additionally, family therapy during addiction treatment can make a tremendous difference in the enabling behaviors family members often have when a loved one is going through addiction treatment. Families want to do everything they can for their loved one, that’s human. But, in the course of that desire to help, family relationships can be severed with enabling behaviors, and family therapy will allow loved ones the opportunity to develop the strategies they need to support their loved one through addiction recovery without enabling the addictive behaviors. The reality is that while someone is going through addiction recovery, they obviously need support and rehabilitative help, and so does their family. If their family members are serious about offering support, they will be there for the individual. Family members who regularly go to family therapy during addiction treatment will learn how to help their loved one in the most supportive and beneficial way, and this is a win for the addicted family member and their entire family.What Does Family Therapy During Addiction Treatment Look Like?
Family therapy during addiction treatment has several objectives to help families communicate better and understand points of view. At Arizona Addiction rehab, the staff offers integrative family therapy and support groups with varied levels of therapeutic supports for families while their loved one is being treated inpatient as well as in the post-treatment period. Because all too often while an individual is in their residential programs and away from the family, family members are left behind cleaning up their lives and the lives of their loved one. Opportunities for in-person therapy with skilled, compassionate clinicians will help form the structure for new, restored and reconciled relationships with their loved one when their treatment program is over. In family therapy, family members are able to work on healing themselves while they help in the healing process for their loved one, with caring professionals helping guide every single step. Families never have to feel alone in addiction of a loved one again.Addiction Treatment Changes the Entire Family
Ultimately the healing process of one suffering from addiction is their responsibility. If you are struggling with addiction, you know all too well how it is dominating your life, and more, how it is quite possibly destroying your family and the relationships you cherish with your loved ones. Just watching that and feeling the guilt that comes with that concern can be additional stress to you and hinder your recovery, and that doesn’t have to be the case. At Arizona Addiction, the caring and compassionate staff know that you not only want your life back, but you want your family back too. If you’re struggling with addiction and you know this is not the life you want for yourself or your family wants for you, now is the time to reach out for help. While there are many options for recovery, you will want to be sure you find the program that looks at you as an individual and a family member—because they want to help you get back to the lives you were supposed to live together. Take the first steps today. You can make the change that doesn’t just give you freedom in recovery, but freedom for your loved family members as well. Call Arizona Addiction. You deserve it, and so do they. Content for Arizona Addiction by Cohn Media, LLC. Passionate and creative writing and broadcasting, covering the following industries: addiction rehab, health care, entertainment and technology. Advocate of clear communication, positivity and humanity at its best. www.cohn.mediaIf you or someone you know needs help with addiction, contact 602-737-1619 or email [email protected] to get the help you need. Our acclaimed recovery environment merges upscale, luxury accommodations with affordability, clinical expertise and an unwavering commitment to patient care and aftercare.
