You’ve heard people say that a family member drives them to drink. In fact, there’s a strong connection between addiction and family. Therefore, it makes sense that recovery must include those closest to you. Finding a quality family therapy program can be essential to your recovery. Here’s how this works.
The Connection between Addiction and Family
There are different ways that families influence a chemical dependency on drugs or alcohol. In some cases, they may have passed down a genetic predisposition for addiction. Experts realize that a tendency for substance abuse can run in families whether it is genetic or a learned behavior. Frequently, it affects multiple generations.
At other times, there’s a lax attitude about addiction in the family. Co-dependency and enabling let abuse of drugs or alcohol continue. Rather than challenging a loved one to stop and seek help, family members may coddle you and feed off of the dependence. They let you engage in destructive behavior even though it affects them negatively, too.
Next, there are the toxic family relationships that create triggers to use drugs and alcohol. You feel that you can’t handle the stress. Therefore, you try to escape the situation by numbing yourself. Drugs and alcohol become crutches for you. This family strain leads to co-occurring addiction and mental health disorders that require dual diagnosis treatment.
Rehab Offers Hope and Change
Addiction therapy programs help you begin your recovery. No matter what your family history might look like, you can be the change. Modalities of treatment might include:
- Group counseling that encourages you to receive peer input during recovery
- Addiction education and relapse prevention for structured ways of learning about long-term recovery
- One-on-one talk therapy as a way of setting goals for the personal growth you envision for yourself
- Family therapy to rebuild broken relationships and build understanding for healthy dynamics
Dual diagnosis treatment can also become part of a good-quality family therapy program. Sometimes, there are underlying mental health conditions that may have genetic components. Examples include anxiety and depression. You may need help with managing one of these conditions along with substance abuse.
Similarly, loved ones may have never received a formal diagnosis. Therefore, they may also require counseling for these mental health concerns. In the process, you and those closest to you learn how to relate to one another productively. It could remove many triggers that caused you to reach for drugs in the past.
Getting Help for Addiction and Family Problems
Chemical dependency isn’t something that you’ll snap out of one day. It’s not a phase that you’ll outgrow. Rather, it’s a medical condition that responds well to treatment. If you do nothing, the chronic disease of addiction continues.
Moreover, the relationship between you and your loved ones continue to erode. You might make some efforts at patching things up. However, as long as there is substance abuse in the picture, they’ll fail. Therefore, you need to address family problems alongside substance abuse issues. Professional addiction treatment programs can heal broken families. Sessions may focus on setting healthy boundaries or addressing past issues in a healthy manner.
Programs for addiction treatment include:
- Specialized substance abuse treatment
- Men’s and women’s rehab programs
- Young adult drug rehab
- Intensive outpatient program (IOP)
Learn more about the connection between addiction and family relationships. Maybe you feel like they’re contributing to your substance abuse, or you just don’t know how to break the cycle. Therapists at Sunstone Recovery routinely work with good people like you who deserve professional help. Call 855.833.9199 today to schedule an appointment and talk about your family and drug or alcohol abuse situation.
