Individuals fortunate and brave enough to conquer addiction should be commended for accomplishing an admirable and challenging task. That said, sobriety is a lifelong process.
Moreover, helping one maintain this healthy state often requires the support of a strong family unit. Therefore, addiction treatment professionals highly recommend those who successfully complete drug treatment undergo family counseling with their close relations.
Family Therapy Overview
Addiction treatment specialists define family therapy as a collection of undertakings used to help recovering addicts retain their sobriety and teach their family members important skills needed to decrease their loved one’s chances for relapse.
One approach employed in this effort is counseling. During this process, the former dependent and their dear associations meet with licensed and trained counselors in gatherings called sessions, which are conversations geared towards:
Establishing Roles
Family members are encouraged to identify what their role in the healing soul’s life will be. That said, these duties should be firmly established and understood. Ergo, counselors teach participants to set boundaries and realize adverse consequences could arise should say borders be violated.
Improving Communication
In many instances, addictions result from negative feelings either not expressed in productive ways or held back entirely. During family counseling, recipients gain instruction regarding healthy and appropriate methods of expressing their true emotions. Moreover, said subjects are taught to display their inner thoughts freely without fear of criticism or contempt.
Understanding Addiction
Not everyone realizes that addiction is a disease. Counseling often helps those believing the problem results from weakness or personality flaws see the ailment from different perspectives.
The Effectiveness Of Family Therapy
Researchers maintain that the effort has yielded positive outcomes in helping both teens and adults remain sober. The undertaking has also precipitated positive results when used in combination with other forms of treatment.
Associated Benefits Of Post-Rehab Family Counseling
Treatment professionals suggest post-rehab family counseling might help participants:
Rebuild Trust
Substance dependents often damage the trust that once existed between themselves and their loved ones. One must remember those caught in the throes of addiction often engage in detrimental behaviors such as lying, cheating, and stealing to satisfy their cravings.
This causes their family members to accumulate significant levels of mistrust, anger, and resentment in return. Counselors instruct a former dependent’s close relations to let go of these feelings and gradually reestablish trust.
The Importance Of Self-Care
During the course of treatment, family members often acknowledge their own negative feelings and inner demons. However, experienced counselors will help them address their own problems safely and productively.
Honesty
In many families, addiction is often the nasty little secret that no one wants to admit to. The problem may be ignored or the user’s familial relations might choose to make excuses for the issue’s existence. Family counseling forces individuals to get the problem out in the open and view it honestly.
Improve Family Dynamics
In an appreciable percentage of cases, recovering addicts come from families possessing disjointed dynamics. Common detrimental roles individuals often take on include:
The Scapegoat
This is the family member that the user blames for causing or fueling their dependency.
The Enabler
Addiction specialists often refer to enablers as individuals who refuse to take a proactive stance in forcing the dependent to address their addiction. Examples range from someone who knows their spouse, child, or parent is addicted to some type of illicit substance and blatantly ignores the problem to an individual who purchases beer or liquor for an alcoholic relative.
The Excuse Maker
Excuse makers attempt to conjure any reason for their loved one’s substance abuse.
Family counselors teach both the addict and their loved ones to take full responsibility and acknowledge their actions.
Contacting Us
Surviving rehab is a tremendous accomplishment. However, it is still only the first phase of sobriety. Maintaining this state is a continual process often rife with obstacles.
That said, post-rehab family therapy could play a crucial role in healing damaged families, improving a recovering subject’s environment, and lessening said individual’s chances of relapsing.
Those ready to achieve sobriety are urged to contact us. at 833-497-3808.The skilled team of addiction treatment professionals employed at our southern Florida location has helped many sunshine state residents beat their dependencies and return to the lives they knew prior to addiction.