Author: John Carter

Family-focused practices in addictions: a scoping review protocol

In my free time, I enjoy staying active and maintain a healthy lifestyle through fitness, whether it’s through weightlifting, adventure racing, or triathlons. I also have a keen interest in food and enjoy experimenting with new recipes and cuisines. You can also reflect on positive progress in your family dynamic, however small.

A Parallel Recovery: Families Healing From Addiction

By focusing on the psycho-social relationships within the family, this therapeutic approach seeks to amend the dysfunctional interactions that may contribute to the persistence of addictive behaviors. Studies indicate that family therapy can significantly improve family resilience, structure, and functionality, thereby fostering an environment more conducive to recovery. Remember, your involvement and support as a family can be a pivotal force in the journey towards recovery.

Understanding Family Stressors

Try as best you can to not take offensive words personally, and don’t reply with the same. Short, calm responses can help dissipate tension and keep your boundaries firm. As a speaker, focus on careful word choice, not making assumptions, and not cutting off your listener if they speak up. Keep your main goals in mind, like maintaining your recovery, and count them as your main priorities. If you have a poor relationship with an aunt, for example, you can stay realistic and not expect your relationship to completely change after seeing them.

How Are Family Members Impacted by a Loved One’s Addiction?

They can make family gatherings difficult and cause avoidance between family members. Knowing the family roles in addiction can help you avoid triggering family members, or ones who may negatively impact your recovery. A positive family dynamic includes helpful, clear, and positive interpersonal interactions. You’ll feel secure in their love and in your role as a son, daughter, mother, father, aunt, grandparent, et cetera. Love and respect flow reciprocally and if an issue arises, you work it out with each other’s best interests in mind.

In the first phone call from the therapist or doctor, families are anxiously waiting for an update on the well-being and progress of their family members. Both inpatient and outpatient facilities offer support groups for patients to connect with peer groups. 12-Step groups offer personal accountability and spirituality to help maintain sobriety.

They compensate for the shame the family feels around the addict by being the family superstar. They may cover for the individual with an SUD, attempting to make the individual look pleasing to everyone. They may be in denial, overlooking major problems that require professional intervention. They are also compensating for feeling empty and helpless themselves due to the dysfunctional family dynamic. “I don’t know how families get through without the support and the knowledge base,” states Jennie Megibow, a social worker and NAMI Family-to-Family graduate whose adult son has schizophrenia.

Family’s Role in Addiction Recovery

1. Moreover, teaching individuals how to use positive communication skills to express emotions openly without resorting to hostility or blame is important to foster change.
2. If the family does not work on themselves, it limits the chances of their loved one maintaining long-term recovery when they leave treatment ​(CDC, 2023).
3. “The sibling relationship is unique because it’s the longest relationship a patient will have.
4. Family members who experience a loved one battling with a substance use disorder (SUD) often endure a host of painful emotions.
5. Like other 12-Step groups, Al-Anon members use spiritual themes to encourage acceptance and compassion.

As we reach the end of our exploration into the multifaceted role of family in the addiction recovery process, it’s important to reflect on the key insights and understandings we’ve gathered. The journey of recovery is one that is deeply personal, yet undeniably interconnected with the family unit. The significance of “Rehabilitation Family Involvement” cannot be overstated; it’s a cornerstone that can bolster the resilience, success, and sustainability of the recovery journey. You can reflect through meditation, journaling, talking with someone, or all 3. Creative expression can be a tool for reflection, too.As you reflect and remember the positives, know you can get help, too. Family therapy can improve your family dynamics and relationships with your loved ones.

Acceptance certainly took some time for Deniece Chi-David, NAMI Basics coordinator, whose daughter was diagnosed with bipolar disorder as a child. It took me a long time before getting my daughter proper services and treatment because my family didn’t believe in it and blamed my daughter’s condition on me not disciplining her enough,” she recalls. The focus lies in the area of staying sober and committing to recovery and building up the structure of the family after it’s been torn down in the earlier stages. Substance use disorder may include alcohol misuse, but it can involve misuse of other substances as well.

The Role of Family Dynamics in Addiction Recovery

This review will be the first to examine all forms of family-focused practices for both substance use and problem gambling treatment for adults. It will provide information about existing service provisions and gaps in practice. This review can be used to start moving towards the development of best practices for families in addiction treatment. The results will be disseminated through a peer-reviewed journal and at mental health and addiction conferences. Families are significantly impacted by addictions and family involvement in treatment can reduce the harms and can also improve treatment entry, treatment completion and treatment outcomes for the individual coping with an addiction.

Alateen is another support group that includes teen family members who help each other heal and discuss complications from witnessing a loved one abuse harmful substances. With both support groups, family members can feel connected to the recovery process and provide input over their experiences. For many in recovery, the support of family is critical to them achieving and maintaining sobriety. It’s true that those families who recognize the importance of educating themselves will eventually learn that mental illnesses are biologically-based brain disorders, and just like any physical illness, there are signs to look for. Until the biological basis is understood, however, feelings of anger, guilt, and denial will prevail, and acceptance of the illness will remain difficult.

Attempts may be made to help the person gain insight into why life has become unstable for so many in the family unit. However, in the final analysis, it may be up to them to begin the process of recovery. You might be the one living with alcohol use disorder, but your behaviors and lifestyle may have shaped, and continue to shape, the lives of those closest to you.