There are many ways to help individuals in the throes of addiction, with the most common choices being counseling, psychotherapy, or a rehabilitation program. But did you know there is an option to help heal the entire family? It’s called family recovery counseling.
Addiction, substance use, behavioral disorders, and marital discord can all cause disconnection within the family unit. These pre-existing and resulting traumas are not only felt and lived by family members struggling with substance abuse or behavioral disorders – it is these family traumas that keep the entire family unit in suffering. In many cases of Substance Use Disorder and Behavioral Disorder, the individual receiving treatment for these issues is not the only individual struggling; often, the whole family is. Below, our experts highlight what family recovery and substance abuse counseling involve and how they can help your family.
What Is Family Recovery Counseling?
Family recovery counseling seeks to give a voice and therapeutic tools to the family members of someone suffering from Substance Use and Behavioral Disorders. This type of program employs a set of therapeutic practices that relies on the family’s strengths and uses or develops new resources to help the entire family more deeply understand the effects of addiction. Our mission is to assist families in discovering what they can do to support all their family members as their struggling loved ones take the path toward their own personal recovery. Instead of only focusing on the thoughts, emotions, and behaviors of one person, family counseling focuses on the relationships of all family members.
Depending on the reasons your family seeks counseling services, additional issues may be addressed, such as abuse, depression, family conflict, parenting skills, and how to help struggling family members cultivate a healthy and productive existence.
Your family counselor may also apply other therapeutic interventions like:
- Discussing family roles
- Recognizing ways to improve communication
- Identifying practices to regain trust
- Setting boundaries
- Learning self-care techniques
- Understanding what helps and what is detrimental
The primary goal of family recovery counseling is to develop, mend, and maintain healthy and functional relationships between family members, recognizing that problems often exist between people, as well as within people. If you’re searching for a family center for recovery counseling, don’t hesitate to reach out to us at Harmony Harbors today!
Primary Benefits of Family Recovery Counseling
Unfortunately, the quality of one’s recovery suffers greatly when confronting addiction alone. With family counseling, someone suffering can confront their addiction while learning to receive and even provide support within the family unit. No longer must an afflicted loved one find recovery in solitude or only within their individual support system. Below are some of the benefits we’ve seen for people and their families who receive family recovery treatment:
Helps Family Members Better Understand Addiction
With family recovery counseling, all family members can better understand the nature of addiction and how it affects your loved one’s behaviors. Family therapy also gives a voice to family members affected by another’s addiction, helping them healthily express and comprehend how the addiction has impacted their lives. Your Harmony Harbors counselor will provide your family with the necessary tools and education to overcome shared and individual trauma and begin the healing process.
Improves Communication
Addiction and behavioral issues often cause deep anger, anxiety, worry, and frustration between family members, further interfering with how everyone communicates. These struggles exist for both sides—the addict and the family members. Both parties often avoid confronting hard truths and situations. The willingness to communicate openly, accurately, and calmly is the center of counseling. Everyone involved must be ready to be honest, or there will be very limited success in recovery outcomes. Your counselor will open up lines of communication and help promote an environment of growing honesty within your family.
Provides Tools for Improving Family Relationships
Often, families may enable the addict by providing support or funds, either directly or indirectly, creating a situation that could lead to continued substance use or limit positive behavioral change. These enabling actions may be taken because family members wish to avoid conflict, for fear of damaging family relationships further – or even to avoid more dire consequences such as physical harm, homelessness, incarceration, or overdose. Family counseling helps create healthy boundaries and provides the necessary tools to improve relationships.
Harmony Harbors – A Family Center for Recovery
Our certified recovery specialists and counselors are here for you in your time of need. For nearly 20 years, we have helped hundreds of families and individuals with substance abuse counseling, behavioral disorders, family recovery, and so much more. If you or someone you know are ready to begin a journey of healing, reach out to our team at 1-877-538-5800.
