A Parallel Recovery: Families Healing From Addiction

Self-care is a critical component of being a supportive family member, enabling one to offer help without compromising their own health and happiness. Oftentimes, people struggling with addiction also have underlying mental health conditions. This can include conditions like anxiety, depression, ADHD, family support in addiction recovery and PTSD, to name a few.

Improving Communication in Recovery Support

SMART Recovery Family & Friends meetings are a dedicated space for those with loved ones who are struggling with addiction. The system as a whole will adjust to each action by each member to try and maintain “homeostasis” to keep the family unit safe​ (SAMHSA, 2020). When a member of the family struggles with addiction, the family is in crisis and adjusts to help stabilize the unit as a whole and for each member.

Online Therapy Can Help

Utilizing the best family support strategies for sobriety success can equip families with the knowledge and tools necessary for providing effective support. Creating a home environment that supports recovery involves more than removing substances,it’s about fostering a space that promotes health, peace, and positivity. This includes establishing routines that encourage self-care and well-being, such as regular meals, exercise, and sufficient rest. A recovery-centric home is also one where open communication is encouraged, and stressors are minimized to reduce the risk of relapse. Organizing family activities that promote bonding and joy can reinforce the recovering addict’s sense of belonging and support. Moreover, educating all family members about the nature of addiction and recovery can cultivate a more understanding and supportive household, prepared to face the ups and downs of the journey to sobriety together.

Roles in Addiction Recovery

Additionally, every day, research teams are conducting in-depth studies about drugs. They’re learning more about how substances interact with the cells inside the brain, and they’re using that knowledge to develop new treatments that might one day either treat or prevent addictions. If you love someone who is not yet in treatment and you need help, feel free to give us a call today at . We are here to guide both you and your loved one through the next steps, including the treatment admissions process and paying for treatment. Giving up a mind-altering substance is incredibly difficult for many people, especially when withdrawal is painful and when they are no longer able to suppress negative emotions with the substance. If you’re unable to leave home for any reason, there are ways to attend virtual meetings.

Family Support Groups and Addiction Treatment

Encouragement towards self-reliance in managing routines, making healthy choices, and developing coping strategies for stress and triggers is essential. However, this does not mean withdrawing support but rather transforming it to foster autonomy. Imagine a sturdy bridge, its foundation built on unwavering support and its planks woven from understanding. On the other, the family, a beacon of unwavering faith, guides them with steady hands and unwavering love.

• Instead of enabling your loved one’s substance use by helping them avoid the consequences, you can motivate them to make better choices by consistently bringing up the issue of treatment and creating healthy boundaries for yourself.
• It is within these sessions that family members learn to communicate effectively, express their needs healthily, and work together towards a common goal of wellness and stability.
• They do not drain the limited emotional resources of the family, but suffer deeply internally.
• According to the US Department of Transportation (2016a), 10,265 people died in alcohol-induced car crashes, accounting for nearly one-third (29%) of all US traffic-related deaths.

Family members may need to participate in their rehabilitation process, which may include treatment, education, and the development of suitable coping mechanisms. When family members are more aware of the psychological, emotional, and physical aspects of addiction, they’ll also better understand triggers that could lead to a relapse. Many FPE programs discuss the different stages of a relapse so that family members can identify them and prevent a full-blown relapse. Mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, nieces, nephews, and cousins discuss their challenges with a loved one’s substance abuse. Like other 12-Step groups, Al-Anon members use spiritual themes to encourage acceptance and compassion. Despite seeing a loved one struggle, family members can and ideally do play a major role in the treatment process.

Program Certification

• The Secular Organization for Sobriety (S.O.S.) is an alternative to the 12-step model of recovery but “welcomes the attendance of religious, as well as nonreligious persons” (Secular Organization for Sobriety n.d., paragraph 3).
• Recovery, therefore, is not a solitary endeavor but a collaborative journey that necessitates understanding, patience, and unwavering support from loved ones.
• They can be counted on to never “rock the boat.” They avoid conflict and suppress their emotions.
• A 7-year study on Teen Challenge’s effectiveness found that, in contrast to those who had dropped out of the program, the program’s graduates had significantly managed to alter their behavior (Bicknese 1999).

Connecting with peers can help, particularly if families use a well-established, trusted program like Al-Anon or Alateen. The goal of these programs is to provide help for families of those living with addiction. They also provide https://ecosoberhouse.com/article/is-it-possible-to-get-sober-without-aa/ a safe, nonjudgmental space where family members can learn, discuss and cope with an addiction unfolding in their midst.