Addiction is known as a family disease for good reason – it doesn’t just affect the addict, but everyone around them as well. If you or a loved one is beginning therapy or professional addiction treatment, you need to get the whole family involved for the best results. Located in Los Angeles, California, Discovery Transitions offers a counseling program to the families of addicts to help loved ones better understand addiction and be there for the addict.
Family members of addicts and alcoholics go through their own personal traumas when a loved one is suffering. To help cope with addiction, family members might develop negative habits like enabling or codependency. In addition, they may suffer their own issues like depression or anxiety. Loved ones might cover up for the addict, make excuses, take over responsibilities, or blame themselves for everything. An addict needs proper counseling to learn how to handle themselves and others. However, the family also needs proper counseling and education to create a healthy environment for themselves and the addict.
When you’re in recovery, you need as much help as you can get. Family therapy brings your family together. It teaches them the subtleties of addiction and how to help the addict through their sobriety journey. The more emotional support, the more likely someone is to stay sober.
It can be difficult for small children to understand why you had to go away to get better, or why you’d suddenly get angry for no reason, or why mom had to take them to Grandma’s house on some nights. Children can suffer emotional trauma from growing up with a parent with a substance abuse disorder. As a result, they may turn to self-medicating for relief themselves. Intensive family therapies offer programs that cater to the unique needs of children and helps them learn coping skills to deal with any emotional wounds.
Misunderstandings and misinformation between addicts and their loved ones make the situation more difficult than it has to be. It can be tough for a family member to watch their son or sister struggle against addiction, especially since it’s difficult for a non-addict to understand what’s happening in the addict’s brain. Education and family counseling can better help the family understand the unique challenges that come with recovery and how they can better support the addict on their path to recovery from addiction.
It’s well understood that addiction is a family disease, and the irony of addiction is that it harms the most important people in your life more than anyone else. It’s not uncommon for relationships to reach their breaking point during addiction but family therapy can rebuild broken relationships. In family therapy, you can open the lines of communication with your loved ones. It will help restore an open and honest relationship.
During family programs a certified counselor will lead family members in a discussion and help teach skills to help including:
Education – Counselors discuss the science of addiction to help alleviate any leftover stigma. Families learn why certain things happen during addiction and why their loved one is suffering.
Negative Coping Mechanisms – It’s important for family members to ditch negative coping mechanisms like enabling, codependency, and covering up.
How to Communicate – Addicts can have difficulties communicating as well as their family members. Counselors can teach family members and addicts how to approach communication and to properly make their feelings known.
Self-Care – Families can lose time, sleep, money, and much more attempting to save their loved ones or worrying. You are the most important in your own life, not the addict. We teach you how to take care of yourself during stressful situations.
You’ll have a much better chance for success when you involve your family in substance abuse treatment. The road to recovery from addiction from drugs or alcohol isn’t easy. However, the love of your family can carry you through the hardest times. Help restore damaged relationships and learn to communicate better by enrolling in Discovery Transition’s family program. Explore our website for more resources or call a certified addiction counselor at Discovery Transitions today. We are located near the Los Angeles area and all calls are kept completely confidential.
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