Family Program

Issues like addiction, substance abuse, and mental disorder can feel isolating, but the impact of such conditions is never in isolation as the consequences of such conditions affect the patient’s family members and loved ones massively. Addiction can damage relationships and weaken families. Family members are often not able to understand why the affected person cannot abstain from drugs and hence lose trust in them. On the other hand, the person suffering from addiction fails to understand the value of his/her family as they are under the influence of substances and that becomes more important to them. Amidst, Addiction Family programs or family program therapies can help to bridge this gap in communication and revive emotional stability.

Family program therapies are where all the family members and other loved ones of the patient can participate together and become an integrated part of the recovery process. Research has proved that support from family is very important for a successful recovery from addiction. Their involvement not only eases the treatment process but also offers a support system to the patient.

Drug Addiction and alcohol addiction family programs allow the patient and their family to elaborately learn about the cause and effect of addiction and mental health crisis They begin to understand the situation from each other’s perspective and build better communication. Family members can find out how they can contribute to reaching the goal of sobriety. The process starts with gaining awareness of the extent of damage caused by addiction, which might be weakening bonds in the various relationships in the family, financial hardships, and loss of sense of safety.

In family program therapies, patients and families get a space to be heard and hear all the parties involved. They learn to interpret their feelings appropriately and then act accordingly. Better communication and more understanding also let the family members understand the role they might have played which led to addiction as well as all the ways that they are affected by the patient’s mental health issue or addiction. With all these insights gathered, clients and families come in a position to make meaningful changes in their lifestyles and move ahead on the path to recovery.

It is highly recommended to involve family members in the treatment of addiction. Support from family not only motivates the patient, but their involvement also adds to the treatment itself. As family members are educated about the process of these therapies and family programs, they can help better to sustain it. They become more aware of what they must do and what they should avoid to achieve the best results. Participation by family and loved ones can encourage the patient to continue the treatment more honestly while decreasing the chances of relapse. This improves the patient’s social and personal relationships which in return acts like a reward and further encourages the patient to retain sobriety.

A major role of family program therapies is to strengthen family communication and appreciate everybody’s point of view. There are activities and different therapy sessions that educate families about addiction, and co-occurring mental illness and show them how they can cope up with their current situation.

As the addiction family program progresses, clients and their loved ones begin reconstructing their lives and working on their relationships. Participants can open up about the various emotions they might be going through. Expressing all their hidden or suppressed emotions like frustration, guilt, fear or even hopes and dreams gives them the strength to overcome denial and other challenges. It provides them a safe space to break the stigma associated with addiction and mental illness and rather focus on improving the situation. Family programs help in the following ways:

• Let you navigate through the chaos of addiction
• You receive the warmth of empathy and understanding
• Begins positive changes in interaction patterns
• You develop listening and communication skills
• You learn healthy coping skills
• You develop problem-solving skills
• Improved conflict resolution skills and relationships
• Lowers the risk of relapse by increasing awareness of the warning signs
• Helps all participants understand addiction, dual diagnosis, and mental illness better and how it affects families.
• Increase the chances of treatment retention.
• Enables a better understanding of what to expect from treatment as an outcome and how to continue the recovery.
• Helps the families to understand the importance of emotional, physical, and spiritual well-being.

Residential Family Inpatient Treatment is a great choice in case of severe addiction. There are several benefits of pursuing Family-Based Residential Inpatient Treatment:

Safe detox: Medical detox is the first and most crucial part of inpatient addiction treatment. The detox process must be guided by trained professionals to minimize the risk of painful and dangerous withdrawal symptoms.

Experienced Addiction Treatment Team: Trained medical attendants help you to address the various underlying issues through many types of group therapies, and experiential and alternative treatment approaches.

Support for Loved Ones: Inpatient family rehab programs include family therapy sessions. Family members learn about addiction and how to cope with it. They become able to take care of the patient as well as themselves during the healing process.

Safe environment: The treatment centers become safe spaces where there are fewer triggers and other obstacles to recovery, hence enabling the client to fully focus on improvement.

Immediate care in case of emergencies: Withdrawal and relapse are the major risks in the addiction recovery process. Such situations can be dangerous for the patient and also to the people who are near them. Inpatient treatment setup provides all-time care set up by professionals which lower the risk of harmful actions and other possible dangers.

The main desired goal of mental health family programs or addiction treatment is to enable the patient’s family members to understand the patient’s medical situation better along with the related psychological and social components. The following are the best outcomes that can be expected from a family program:

• Increase in support from family: as the family realizes that the problem of addiction is, directly and indirectly, causing issues in the family, they are motivated to work as a team to fight addiction and achieve freedom from it.
• Identify and modify trigger points that work against recovery: relationship patterns might need some alterations to stop triggering substance consumption. Better communication solves a lot of the complications.
• Prepare family members for what to expect: Family members might end up feeling disappointed, hence do not support them wholeheartedly if they have unrealistic expectations.
• Identify warning signs: if family members understand warning signs, they can be very helpful in preventing episodes of relapse.
• Understand the causes and effects of substance use disorders: family dysfunctions and addiction can be both cause and effect of each other, and family counselors help clients figure out ways to break through this vicious circle.
• Utilise family strengths: families might have specific members or other aspects that help them come closer and be more devoted towards the recovery process as the end goal is unanimously to rebuild a healthy family.
• Long-term support as a family: with the patient undertaking the path of recovery, the family should also look after each other’s emotional, physical, mental, and spiritual well-being.

Different clients have different needs, everybody has a different story and family setup. Based on factors such as severity, duration, types, or other uniqueness of the concern, a therapist can recommend/ choose from different types of family therapies, such as:

• Behavioral couples therapy (BCT): it is designed for married/ engaged or cohabiting couples where in partner suffering from abuse expresses the intention to achieve sobriety and seeks support from the other.
• Family behavior therapy (FBT): this model is for adults and adolescents with SUDs. It’s sort of a pick-and-choose therapy from a list of options. It involves efforts from the entire family to change the behavior of the person with SUD.
• Brief strategic family therapy (BSFT): focused on improving interaction within the family, as well as helping, to develop cordial relationships with each other, this therapy is best suited for families dealing with adolescents who have SUDs. According to multiple findings, disharmony in the family is among the most common triggers of adolescent substance abuse.
• Functional family therapy (FFT): apart from strengthening family ties, this therapy also encourages effective communication techniques, problem-solving, conflict resolution, parenting skills as well as behavioral contracts.
• Solution-focused brief therapy. This can be helpful for families dealing with co-occurring disorders, this therapy focuses on finding solutions for specific problems instead of pinpointing the reason.
• Community reinforcement and family training (CRAFT). CRAFT uses a positive reinforcement approach to change substance use behaviors.
• Multisystemic therapy (MST): This therapy is primarily designed for adolescents with SUDs exhibiting violent behaviors, and/or having criminal records.
• Multi-dimensional family therapy (MDFT): Family therapy treats adolescents with severe SUDS and encourages family support by way of a comprehensive treatment program that includes the participation of the school, legal system, and/or other relevant parties.

Family therapy programs act as a bridge between the family members and the one who is suffering from addiction as well as between the current situation and the goal of freedom from addiction. This is achieved in the following ways:

• Understand Signs of Relapse Relapse is one of the major dangers a patient experiences while getting addiction treatment. Family programs educate the family members to trace signs of relapse and judge better when to step in to help the patient. They are taught what exactly they need to do in such scenarios.
• Setting Healthy Boundaries Boundaries are very important for a smoother treatment. Loved ones or family members must learn to help the patient to control their destructive behavior. Healthy boundaries and clear expectations make it much easier for all the parties involved.
• Start to Communicate Better Good communication solves a lot of issues at their starting points. Family programs allow you to learn how family dynamics play a major role in achieving the goal and managing that aspect better. Listening to and understanding each other, expressing themselves, and trying to help each other to come out of the current situation helps everyone involved.

Addiction and addiction treatment are delicate issues, hence needing to be handled extremely carefully. Family therapy programs have trained and licensed professionals who can navigate through all the emotional, mental, and physical difficulties. They explain to the patient and the family members how to manage extreme situations and behave accordingly to minimize the consequences. Family is the biggest strength and support that one can have. Just like happiness doubles when with family, the need for family’s love and support also increases in difficult times.