At some point after you stop using drugs or drinking, you are going to have to take a look at the damage you have left in your wake. It’s quite possible that the amount of collateral damage you have caused will shock you. In regard to collateral damage, it’s common for family members to catch the brunt of what takes place. If you look at your current relationships with family and friends, there is a good chance the damage will be evident.
For your information, here are a few ways your substance abuse might have affected some of your family and friends:
- Some family members might have become codependent in an effort to appease you
- Some family members might have been victimized by your behavior (theft, car accident, etc.)
- Some family members might have decided to break off all contact with you
Regardless of where things stand with family members, you will get an opportunity to mend fences. However, it’s very likely you are going to have to get yourself into treatment before you get that chance. The truth is you have to deal with you before you can address outside issues. You need an opportunity to get will. Otherwise, any efforts you make to mend fences will likely prove moot as your negative behavior continues. The best chance you have of getting your family back on track is to work on recovery. When you enter rehab, you will have ample opportunity to share your concerns over how family members were victimized by your substance abuse.
That should be enough to prompt the rehab’s administrative staff to list family therapy as part of your treatment plan. Having your family involved in the treatment process would serve two purposes. First, it would give family members a chance to learn the truth about your addiction. Second, it gives everyone a chance to come together to clear the air and mend fences. You want this opportunity because you are going to need loved ones in your corner as a support resource after rehab. At this point, we want to focus on how family therapy can address codependence.
Can Family Therapy at a Drug Rehab in Palm Beach Help Address Codependence?
According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, codependency is defined as: “a psychological condition or a relationship in which a person is controlled or manipulated by another who is affected with a pathological condition (such as an addiction to alcohol or heroin).” In other words, your family members are codependent if they have been involved with supporting your addiction in any way. Experts call that enabling. When family members enable loved ones to abuse substances, they themselves get caught up in the cycle of addiction.
To deal with codependency issues, codependent family members are invited to the rehab facility for the purpose of participating in family therapy sessions. As part of the family therapy process, said family members are offered a chance to get individual therapy. Therapists prescribe this individual therapy for the purpose of teaching codependent family members what it means to be codependent. These sessions also seek to specifically identify each family member’s codependent behaviors. By doing so, the therapist can follow up with information on how to avoid codependent behavior in the future. There is also a part of this process that brings the client and their codependent family members together.
This is done in order to make sure everyone is on the same page about how the enabling needs to stop. The truth is you don’t need enablers. You need family members who will stand by your side after they are convinced you are willing to get help. For you part in this process, you get the reward of building a healthier relationship with participating family members. These are the people you will be able to call on as support resources to help you stay on the straight and narrow road of recovery.
To be clear, the best support resource on planet earth is loving family members. As you contemplate getting help for your addiction, take a moment to take inventory of your standing with family members. If there are issues you need to address, you can seek that level of help. But first, you need to get yourself help. We would glad to help you with the treatment process. If you would like information about our addiction treatment services, all you need to do is pick up the phone and call us at 833-846-5669.