Family Addiction Therapy in the United States
When families who have a loved one who suffers from addiction, the entire family unit is affected. People may develop unhealthy behaviors, resentments, and more. That’s why family addiction therapy is so crucial – it gives the entire family a chance to heal and become healthier.
Across the United States, there are an estimated 21 million people who are currently dealing with a substance use disorder. Each and every one of those 21 million people are connected to others, usually through their family. When a person is caught in the throes of addiction, his or her family members are affected as well. Family addiction therapy provides a safe space for healing during an extremely difficult time.
Addiction is often referred to as a family disease. It cultivates a lack of trust, constant fear, crippling anxiety, and poor communication. When the family becomes affected, they may fall into behavioral patterns that support the disease. This can ultimately lead to an unfortunate breakdown of the family. Furthermore, family members may adopt certain coping mechanisms that aren’t necessarily healthy – and family counseling helps identify and break these destructive behaviors.
Whether you have a child or spouse suffering from addiction or you yourself are looking to get your family involved in your recovery, our family addiction therapy in the United States can help.
How Does Drug and Alcohol Addiction Impact Families?
Whether a person is injecting meth or drinking in excess, the impacts that their disease has on their families is the same. The insidiousness of addiction can drive families apart within a short period of time. As the addict or alcoholic continues with his or her substance abuse, family members also begin to fall into family roles that they may not recognize.
- The hero — Seeing that the family is dysfunctional because of a person’s drug or alcohol addiction, the hero in the family is someone who works tirelessly to stop the dysfunction. This person is usually highly responsible and self-sufficient. However, this person may neglect his or her emotions or overcompensate for others – leading to a lack of self-care and unhealthy coping mechanisms.
- The scapegoat — The scapegoat is typically a family member who continually gets into trouble. This person often distracts the family from what is going on with their addicted loved one.
- The mascot — Similar to a class clown, the mascot is a family member who utilizes humor to mask challenging times. They attempt to reduce the impact that addiction has on the family. Although laughter and jokes are sometimes necessary in stressful times, the mascot takes it too far and ends up failing to properly express feelings and needs.
- The caretaker — The caretaker is often called the enabler or the codependent – the most recognizable of all of the family roles. This family member does things that encourage the addict’s use. For example, providing an addicted loved one with money to buy drugs or bailing a loved one out of jail. The caretaker is also usually codependent on the addict. Parents and spouses typically assume this role, but it’s one of the most unhealthy roles there is. Codependents usually end up suffering from depression, anxiety, or other mental or behavioral health problems.
- The lost child — For families with children, the lost child is just that — a child who gets lost in the muddled mess that is addiction. He or she may withdraw from others and keep to him/herself. This child typically struggles to develop meaningful relationships or grows up to abuse drugs or alcohol themselves.
- The addict — The addict is addicted to drugs and/or alcohol. He or she is the catalyst for the dysfunction in the family, whether this person realizes it or not.
The entire family unit changes when a family member is dealing with substance use disorder. However, the family does not need to continue to suffer. Instead, there are resources like family addiction therapy that help strengthen the family system — regardless of if the addict is active in his or her addiction or not.
What is Family Addiction Therapy?
- Getting everyone involved — Many families have little to no desire to participate in family therapy. That’s why developing motivation in family members to participate in these counseling sessions is essential. In addition, it is important that the family remains dedicated to fostering the well-being of their loved ones.
- Improving communication — It is common for families to struggle with healthy and constructive communication, especially when addiction is occurring. It is easy to misread the behaviors of others, take something the wrong way, or feel resentful about something that was said. A family program can help members become more understanding of one another. It will also provide them with the skills needed to decrease arguing, improve patience, and truly hear what each other is saying.
- Changing toxic behaviors — When a family member is an addict or an alcoholic, the behaviors of everyone around him or her can change for the worse. A family therapist can help you and your family identify negative behaviors and replace them with positive ones.
During family therapy, you and your family might also work on setting new family rules, learning how to place boundaries, and addressing personal issues that are standing in the way of healthy functioning. Hopefully, the addict or alcoholic in your family will participate in these treatment services with you. If he or she doesn’t, it is still important to attend and better yourselves.
In the end, the goal of family therapy is to repair family relationships and provide solutions to managing drug or alcohol abuse. While this type of psychotherapy can be held with a mental health counselor, people typically participate in family counseling for addiction at a residential or outpatient substance abuse treatment center.
Why is Family Addiction Counseling Important for Recovery?
While family addiction therapy provides great benefits to family members of addicts, it’s also important to the addict’s recovery. In fact, the Substance Abuse and Mental health Services Administration (SAMHSA) explains that addiction treatment programs tend to have better outcomes if the person’s family is involved. If family members don’t get involved in counseling to help support their loved one in recovery, the unhealthy family dynamics may actually hinder or stop a person’s recovery.
Not only does family counseling help break unhealthy habits and bring the family unit back together, but it also educates the family about the disease of addiction. It teaches the family the importance of 12-step support groups, the signs of relapse, and how to effectively support a loved one in sobriety.
When someone in recovery has the support of his or her family, it makes the journey that much easier. If you’re interested in being part of the support system that helps your loved one stay sober, you should definitely consider participating in therapy for families of addicts and alcoholics.
Lastly, addiction is known to run in families. By giving the entire family an opportunity to participate in counseling, you can prevent future substance abuse problems down the line by detecting poor behaviors or thought patterns early on. Furthermore, sometimes addiction goes undetected – but psychotherapy with a mental health professional can help catch a drug or alcohol problem before it gets significantly worse.
Does Your Family Need Help?
If you and your family are struggling because of a family member’s drug or alcohol problem and are looking to get involved in family addiction therapy in the United States, reach out to A Forever Recovery right now.
Our therapy for families of addicts helps bring clarity to confusing relationships, repair broken trust and resentments, and bring your family back together while supporting your loved one’s recovery.
We understand the challenges that you are facing. We are here to say that our treatment and family therapy can help. Do not wait. Call us today.