Family Treatment

Everyone who knows an addict can see how that person’s life is adversely affected by his or her addiction.

What’s harder to see is how those close to an addict are also adversely affected by the addict’s behavior. Family treatment is designed to assist that circle of family, friends, spouses or partners, coworkers and others—all of whom are hurting just as much as the addict.

Many family members assume that once the addict receives treatment, everything will be OK and the family will return to some idealized notion of harmony. But that isn’t the reality.

The process of recovery is two-sided. On one side is the addict. The opposite side is comprised of all those people who have some relationship to the addict. Each side has its own unique dynamics, learned over time, which can be unhealthy if not addressed in a caring, therapeutic environment. Years of living with addiction can cultivate feelings of fear, anger, betrayal, sadness, loss and grief.

When an addict receives treatment, behavioral and emotional changes are among the most noticeable positive results. If the family is unprepared to deal with these changes, healing is inhibited and the potential for relapse actually increases.

Family treatment involves understanding the elements of addiction, as well as others’ reactions to it. Relationship with an addict can lead to a different type of addiction: codependency. This is a set of learned behaviors in those close to the addict who ignore their own needs and, with the best of intentions, focus on trying to help or “fix” the addict. As a result, their own emotional, physical and spiritual desires go unmet.

At the same time, the addict avoids reaping the effects of his or her own behavior, having learned to expect a family member to get them out of trouble. Both sides are actively involved in compulsive, destructive behavior. The addict can’t stop abusing drugs or alcohol, and the family member can’t stop trying to fix everything.

Needing and caring for another person, even acting selflessly at times, are aspects of basic human drives for love and intimacy. However, when these drives are unbalanced, the results can be damaging to everyone involved.

RecoveryAid’s goal is to enable everyone involved in the addictive cycle to achieve full physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health. Knowing that the family’s recovery is just as important as the addict’s, we also provide scholarships for families in need. Through treatment and ongoing support, family members will experience a sense of harmony and serenity that never seemed possible when they were dealing with a loved one’s active addiction. Most important, the family will have the necessary resources to relate to the addict in the most healthy, productive and supportive manner.