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Act Fast – Limited Capacity
Recovery is just a phone call away. We’re here for you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Call (352) 771-2700
Act Fast – Limited Capacity
When confronted with addiction, clients and their families often engage in reinforced patterns of behavior, usually without any conscious knowledge that they are doing so. This phenomenon in families was described in the 1960s and 1970s by psychotherapist Virginia Satir and others, then adapted specifically to by psychotherapists Claudia Black and Sharon Wegscheider-Cruse in the 1980s. It is therefore of critical importance that family members recognize which roles they may be assuming.
The roles that family members play include:
These roles are not always clearly divided between individual family members. Often, one person assumes multiple roles (e.g., hero and enabler), or multiple family members may play a single role (e.g., children become the collective “scapegoat” in a family with an alcohol-dependent parent).
It is common for clients and family members to experience many emotions during treatment. For example, people may notice feeling:
Family therapy can provide a safe space to work through these emotions with a trained therapist.
Family counseling for addiction can also help teach a family how to navigate changing family dynamics as a person moves through recovery. Family members learn how to change unhealthy behaviors and patterns developed during the addiction, like enabling or co-dependent type behaviors. Family therapy can teach the family healthier ways to interact as family members.
At The Recovery Village, we may offer several treatment options to work with families, as medically appropriate.
Inpatient Rehab: During inpatient rehab, your loved one will live onsite at our facility and work through their personalized treatment plan. They will receive intensive support and 24-hour monitoring. We may offer family therapy sessions during the inpatient rehab program as part of recovery, as medically appropriate.
Outpatient Rehab: When your loved one either completed inpatient rehab or does not require the intensive monitoring and support of inpatient rehab, they can attend outpatient rehab. During outpatient rehab, the patient will live at home and be free to participate in treatment on a schedule that best suits their needs.
With outpatient rehab, your loved one lives in the family home. They can continue to attend work or school. Outpatient rehab places more responsibility on your loved one to maintain sobriety.
Dual Diagnosis: If your loved one has a mental health and substance abuse diagnosis, they can receive treatment for both simultaneously. When treatment addresses both diagnoses as part of a comprehensive program, treatment will have a greater impact and support recovery. Substance abuse treatment and family therapy in a dual diagnosis program will help the family work through mental health diagnoses and addiction issues.
Aftercare: Aftercare planning involves setting up a plan for your loved one upon completing treatment with The Recovery Village. The aftercare plan would likely involve:
The aftercare plan will incorporate the family’s needs and may involve referrals for the family members as well.
During family therapy, family members may engage in activities that help the family and the addicted loved one. The family can meet with the treatment team and participate in group and family therapy sessions. During these times, the family can work to learn how to:
Sometimes, rehab can create challenges and concerns for family members and the loved one with addiction. Some common concerns about disadvantages include:
Remember that The Recovery Village can discuss any concerns about treatment with you, and we can work together to find solutions and incorporate them into your treatment plan.
Individuals in active addiction usually are not fully aware of the damage they created and do not seek treatment until the consequences are too dire or urgent to be ignored. Families may need to serve as catalysts for convincing their loved one to seek treatment but may encounter significant resistance from an addicted person. Sometimes the family ecosystem has adapted so strongly to the unhealthy environment that families may not be aware of the extent of the problem. Legally binding and involuntary commitments to treatment are utilized in some circumstances, and the social pressure of staged interventions can also provide significant assistance in convincing an individual to seek treatment.
People in recovery often receive a large morale boost when their families and friends are involved in their treatment. Such support is invaluable, but it must also remain healthy in its approach; supporting a loved one in rehab involves recognizing when unhelpful patterns may develop.
It is critically important for family members to learn to engage in healthy self-care. Family members who can do so are far better able to support their loved ones in recovery. At times, this support must come from an emotional distance, especially from family members who have been negatively affected by addictive behaviors.
Multiple studies show that family involvement in recovery efforts leads to longer stretches of abstinence, fewer instances of return to drug use and better psychosocial and treatment outcomes. The benefits of family involvement during recovery can extend far past the immediate episode of addiction treatment. Challenging the usual maladaptive modes of communication and helping the family replace them with healthier alternatives is a focus of much of the effort in family programs.
In addiction treatment, the word “family” is highly inclusive. It can refer to direct relatives of the person in recovery — spouses, partners, siblings and children — but it can also expand to include extended family, a close circle of friends or anyone else likely to have significant personal interactions with an individual in addiction recovery. Any of these individuals can and should attend family programs when possible. The only true requirement for attending these programs is a desire to understand addiction’s impact on family members and the addicted person.
Family programs are usually associated with a treatment facility but can also be implemented as part of an aftercare plan at an independent practice. If your loved one is currently receiving treatment at a rehab center, the clinical treatment team can guide you on how to best carry out and maintain family therapy. It is important to understand that communicating with close family members about difficult situations is a lifelong, ongoing skill that needs to be developed, and family programs allow for such skills to be well-honed.
The Recovery Village offers programs at several different locations. Contact our Recovery Advocates for help finding a facility nearest you.
Addiction is a family disease, and healthy family relationships help create a sustainable recovery. The Recovery Village encourages clients to involve families actively and thoroughly through the addiction treatment process. We help clients and their families become more effective communicators with each other.
Praveen, Thyarappa, K.; Law, Fergus; O’Shea, Jacinta; Melichar, Jan. “Opioid dependence.” BMJ Clinical Evidence, September 20, 20011. Accessed July 4, 2019.
Rahman, Abdul; Paul, Manju. “Delirium Tremens (DT).” StatPearls Publishing, November 18, 2018. Accessed July 4, 2019.
Davis, Chris. “Home detox – supporting patients to ov[…]me alcohol addiction.” Australian Prescriber, December 3, 2018. Accessed July 4, 2019.
Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health. “Rapid and Ultra-Rapid Detoxification in […]fety, and Guidelines.” Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health Rapid Response Reports, January 15, 2016. Accessed July 4, 2019.
Diaper, Alison M.; Law, Fergus D.; Melichar, Jan K. “Pharmacological strategies for detoxification.” British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, February 2014. Accessed July 4, 2019.
The Recovery Village aims to improve the quality of life for people struggling with substance use or mental health disorder with fact-based content about the nature of behavioral health conditions, treatment options and their related outcomes. We publish material that is researched, cited, edited and reviewed by licensed medical professionals. The information we provide is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. It should not be used in place of the advice of your physician or other qualified healthcare providers.
The Recovery Village aims to improve the quality of life for people struggling with a substance use or mental health disorder with fact-based content about the nature of behavioral health conditions, treatment options and their related outcomes. We publish material that is researched, cited, edited and reviewed by licensed medical professionals. The information we provide is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. It should not be used in place of the advice of your physician or other qualified healthcare provider.
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