Family is an essential part of every person’s life, since each person comes from a family. Whether or not they know it, family members are influential in the successfulness of an addict’s recovery program. This makes family treatment an integral part of an addict’s sobriety. Here is why family treatment is important and effective.
Family Treatment Builds Trust
Addiction can break down natural family bonds of trust and cause family members to be ineffective in communicating with each other. Family treatment helps the members to begin talking to each other about difficult topics and feelings—particularly the substance abuse problem. This helps the addicted person to understand how his behavior is affecting the rest of his family and helps other members to resolve their pent-up feelings.
Particularly through family therapy with a counselor, families are able to build up mutual trust once again. This occurs through dealing with individual issues and setting boundaries between different family members. Having a counselor that assists with this process guides the family in a neutral and non-confrontational environment. Persons who are recovering from addiction are more likely to continue sober because these emotional wounds are able to be resolved.
Family Members Become More Understanding
Recovery from an addiction is a long and trying process that family members often do not understand. Through family treatment, members of the family can better understand what the addict is experiencing. This goal is accomplished by allowing the addict to express the different struggles they are having to other members. Communicating in this way encourages the addict and helps them to be more successful in achieving and maintaining sobriety.
Another aspect of increasing understanding of what the addict is going through is by educating the family. Education is a common part of Los Angeles drug treatment. Families typically take classes to learn about what addiction is, how it happens and what causes it. Learning about the disease of addiction assists family members in supporting their addict more fully in the recovery process.
Growing Happens Together
Since addiction affects each family member, treatment also affects each member. Thus, the changes that a recovering addict needs to make in his life in order to be successful in achieving and maintaining sobriety will also influence the family in some way. Family treatment helps the family to adapt to these changes and grow together.
Since families are influential in each person’s life, it is no surprise that family treatment is influential in helping the addicted person achieve and maintain sobriety. Not only does family treatment improve communication among family members, but it also educates the members to understand what their addicted member is experiencing.
Beginning your Los Angeles drug treatment at The Gooden Center is the first step in changing your life. Whether you or a friend or family member needs help, give them a call today.
