Incorporating the family or loved ones into recovery
Incorporating the family or loved ones into recovery has several advantages. An understanding support system provides countless benefits. As such, addressing the family when creating a treatment plan leads to a much more holistic approach. The homefront will always be incredibly influential, for better or worse, when it comes to recovery. If the environment is educated and supporting, recovery becomes that much more likely. However, an undereducated family can hinder a patient’s recovery, even if they have the best intentions at heart. Incorporating the family can make a massive difference in the effectiveness and longevity of a recovery program.
Addressing the Holistic
Having help on both fronts can create the best picture of what a patient’s life is like and what struggles they face. The family and loves ones also already know many of the patient’s likes and dislikes. They will be able to address any strategies and then fit them to best address the patient from their point of view. While attending outpatient therapies and group sessions is still very important, it can be challenging to sustain recovery without additional support at home. A combination of challenging and supportive systems on a professional and personal front creates the most effective method of addressing the patient and their recovery.
Inviting the Family
While having the family in attendance for a family session may be at the discretion of the patient, it should be encouraged, when possible. First and foremost, these sessions get everyone on the same page about the recovery process. It can be difficult for someone to understand what addiction recovery is if they themselves are not afflicted with addiction. Having a session to explain recovery to the family and the patient creates a unified front. This united front is vital in establishing and maintaining a sense of accomplishment.
It also mitigates feelings of shame and guilt that a recovering person may be feeling. Addiction can be an isolating malady primarily defined by shame and guilt. Education for the family and friends is the first step in adjusting one’s mindset from isolating guilt to a positive, supportive environment free of judgment. Mediating family sessions can be challenging and must be done with the utmost care, so the patient doesn’t feel cornered or attacked. During these sessions, the voice of the patient still comes first, and that voice is needed to establish a sense of trust between the patient and their family.
Educating the Family
As mentioned before, the isolation and schism between people in recovery and the people around them are difficult to overcome. This difficulty has its basis in the idea that nobody can understand what the process feels like. Explaining “why” someone may become addicted to a substance or action helps begin the critical process of understanding and forgiveness.
Unity
Homefront and professional sessions each have their place. By working alongside a patient’s family, a sense of unity stretches through each aspect of recovery. A unified front between patient and professional, patient and family, and even family and professional, is vital. If each party understands not just the addiction but the underlying issues, an addicted person has an excellent chance of recovering.
Urges and relapses are frequent in addiction recovery, and having strategies on all fronts can prevent urges from developing into relapses. Education is one of the most powerful tools in recovery. By educating the patient and their family, everybody can work together to use their knowledge to create a supportive environment.
The family’s level of involvement during the recovery process is typically up to the patient. Still, the family’s impact is always substantial. If each member of the support system knows about a patient’s triggers, goals, and recovery plan, success is likely. It all falls under the same umbrella as the importance of community – developing skills to overcome isolation and guilt and instill a positive, supportive front in all facets of one’s daily life.
If you or a loved one is struggling with an addiction of any kind, Alta Centers is available to help you. Specializing in a modern style of recovery that champions community and societal integration for each patient, Alta Centers is on the cutting edge of a unique form of treatment and sobriety. Alta Centers believes that you don’t have to cut out of society and life completely to receive quality treatment. Instead, it focuses on reconstituting sobriety as a fun and alternative way of interacting with society at large. Offering programs like detox and aftercare, Alta Centers has something for you today. For more information about their programs and recovery environment, contact Alta Centers today at 1-888-202-2583.
