Family and the Effects of Addiction
The family is a system of interrelated parts, and each member has an effect on all the others. When a part of the system changes, it affects all the other parts or family members. When a person suffers from substance abuse, their actions negatively affect the rest of the family in serious ways.
To enable a family to regain the equilibrium it had before addiction and maintain it, as well as to effectively support the loved one in recovery, therapy and counseling for individual members and the whole family are needed.
Family Therapy and Codependency
Addiction is a progressive disease that impacts everyone in the family. Substance abusers need treatment for successful sobriety, as does the entire family. Family addiction treatment helps everyone to heal, as well as learn how to avoid enabling the substance abuser.
Family members commonly and often unknowingly support an abuser’s destructive habits. Family therapy helps everyone break codependent relationships. When people attend family therapy, the therapist helps each member understand how their actions either hurt or help their loved ones.
Therapists also educate the family on the nature of addiction. This better understanding of the abuser’s issues, and how the family dynamic plays its part, helps family members develop healthy responses and avoid codependent behaviors. The group focus on the entire family, and not only the individual, helps to improve family system functioning.
On a deeper level, family therapy helps people understand the needs of their loved one while the abuser is in recovery, as well as their own needs as individuals and as a family. Then, the group can more effectively support the person in recovery because each individual in the system is healing.
Principles of Effective Family TherapyEffective family therapy programs will offer:
- Family group therapy meetings
- Family workshops to build coping skills
- Education on the disease of addiction
- Supportive environments for family members
- Meetings to address questions and concerns
Family Therapy & Education
Drug and alcohol abuse doesn’t only affect the user’s life; the whole family undergoes a transformation. Counseling sessions help everyone understand what addiction is all about and provide education about how strong relationships with family and friends are needed for drug abuse treatment to be successful.
The Power of Family Addiction Treatment
Family addiction treatment benefits the overall healthy recovery of the person and their family. Since family members are a strong force for change in the recovering person’s life, they can empower a person’s sobriety.
For example, each member in therapy helps increase the chances the substance abuser will stay in therapy. Statistics reveal family therapy results in lower relapse rates, increased contentment within the family and improved functioning in children of substance abusers.
When you or a loved one need resources to overcome addiction, heal past hurts and regain the trust in close relationships, family therapy can help you achieve these goals, while sustaining recovery for everyone.