Behavioral Health of the Palm Beaches offers a family addiction education and support group for families and significant others of current and former patients. The group helps families gain valuable knowledge and insight regarding their loved one’s post-treatment needs and the family’s role in their loved one’s recovery. Our group is open to loved ones of active drug or alcohol abusers, sober recovery patients, and patients currently in treatment.
Why Is Addiction a Family Disease?
Addiction is often referred to as a family disease because it affects not only the individual with the addiction but their family members as well. Addiction can significantly alter the dynamics of a family, resulting in strained bonds, hampered communication, and even financial issues. Elevated levels of stress, worry, and sadness are frequently felt by the addicted person’s family members as they try to deal with the addiction and its effects. These individuals may also feel helpless, guilty, or ashamed, which can make their own mental health problems worse.
Furthermore, addiction often has a genetic component, which means that family members of individuals with addiction may be more susceptible to developing addictive behaviors themselves. Additionally, environmental factors such as growing up in a household with addiction or experiencing trauma related to the disease can also increase the risk of developing an addiction of their own. This highlights the ripple effect that substance abuse can have on an entire family, impacting multiple generations and perpetuating a cycle of addiction and dysfunction. It also illustrates the importance of education regarding how to respond to a situation like this.
The Importance of Support Groups for Families of Addicts
Support groups for families of addicts are essential in assisting family members in overcoming the difficulties posed by addiction. People can discuss their experiences, feelings, and worries with others who are going through comparable circumstances in these groups, which offers a safe and encouraging environment. Family members can discover coping mechanisms for the stress, worry, and emotional upheaval that frequently accompany addiction. Support groups can also give family members essential information and services, such as access to community resources, referrals to treatment facilities, and instructional materials on addiction and recovery.
In addition to educating families regarding the disease of addiction and the importance of family involvement, the family addiction education and support group allows patients to exchange ideas about how to live with a loved one’s addiction and what to do after they complete treatment. Family members learn not only how to help a loved one who struggles with addiction but also the importance of getting help for themselves.
By connecting with others who have been through similar experiences and sharing their struggles and triumphs, family members can develop a sense of community and resilience that can help them navigate the challenges of addiction and support their loved ones in recovery. As they begin to focus on bettering their own lives for the sake of both them and their addicted loved ones, their efforts toward self-care will inspire and empower the entire family unit.
Our Family Education and Support Services: What to Expect
While a patient is busy undergoing addiction treatment in Lake Worth, their families are able to access a variety of resources to help them through this process. Although this support group is useful regarding community building and education, we encourage those struggling to make use of our family addiction counseling program.
Our family education groups are held once a week at our Banyan Lake Worth rehab and offer a supportive environment that encourages participants to ask questions. They say that knowledge is power, and although it does not erase the damage that has been done, it gives families a chance to come to terms with why it happens and how to best handle it moving forward.
Meetings are free of charge and often feature the following topics of discussion:
- Addiction as a disease
- The family disease concept
- What to expect when a loved one is in treatment
- Codependent relationships and enabling
- Boundaries and detachment
- Self-care for family members
Loved ones of patients of any of our sister facilities are welcome and encouraged to attend. Learn the facts about addiction and your role in your loved one’s recovery through our family addiction education and support group. Meetings are open to family members of current substance abusers, family members of patients in treatment, and family members of patients in recovery. We hope to give these individuals the knowledge and empowerment they need to get through these challenges.
Contact the professionals at our Lake Worth drug rehab to learn more about these resources and how they can help you and your loved one.
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