Codependency is a behavior that is learned from people around you, including family members. It’s something you’ve got to be able to identify and create solutions to avoid as you move forward in your life.
It’s also one thing that’s often addressed in family therapy in addiction treatment, which is about more than helping you to stop using.
It’s also about helping you to identify the factors that serve as triggers that can lead to you using in the future. Is your biggest trigger your family?
If so, it’s time you took a deep dive into our guide to gain a deeper understanding of the importance of family therapy in addiction treatment. Read on now.
Addiction and Your Family
During your addiction, it’s challenging to understand how your addiction has affected your family. For some people, the idea that addiction leaks into family life is a foreign concept, but it can send families into a spiral of codependency that keeps a chokehold over everyone.
For example, a mother who ridicules her child for being an addict but thrives off this cycle of toxicity is in a codependent relationship. The addicted loved one continues to seek refuge from the mother who, despite her negative attitude, will continue to be there when she is needed.
This is also an example of enabling. If someone deep into addiction knows that no matter what they do, a member of their family will bail them out, they will never want to seek help.
Enabling addictive behaviors and actions is like telling your loved one that what they are doing is okay, and they can continue doing it, which isn’t correct.
If this sounds like your family, you need to seek addiction treatment family therapy. Here are some of the benefits for you and your family.
Better Understanding of What Addiction Is
Most families don’t understand the cycle of addiction and only see that you continue to make the choice to use. Because they’re witnessing firsthand the destruction it’s bringing into your life, it’s challenging to express and show the empathy you need to get help.
Family therapy provides the perfect atmosphere for families to get educated about the disease of addiction. Not only will they better understand things like drug cravings, but also how the prolonged use of a substance has changed the chemistry of your brain and body.
They will begin to understand that stopping is a harder choice than they could have ever imagined it would be. For more families, receiving education about addiction is the first step to seeing their loved one in a different way and removing the lens of judgment from their eyes.
Without continuing to judge you for your addiction, you and your family can move forward with making crucial strides in therapy.
Helps Rebuild Trust
One of the first things that are lost among families when addiction is in the mix is trust. Because of the wrongs that have been done in the past, it’s hard to believe that they won’t happen again, which leads to people keeping their walls up.
Family therapy provides the foundation needed to begin rebuilding trust that was lost. It’s not something that will happen overnight, but trust can be rebuilt over time. Addiction can take you down a path where nothing and no one else matters.
When you choose to seek addiction treatment, you come out of that darkness and begin to realize the destruction you’ve left behind you. It’s not pretty and it can be hard to face, but you must if you want to rebuild the relationships and trust that was lost.
Improves Lines of Communication
Outside of therapy, communication for most families that have a loved one suffering from addiction is destructive. The communication centers around blame, shame, and anger.
Because of this type of communication, or lack thereof, it’s challenging to reach a solution and resolve issues that might be plaguing the family. However, in family therapy, it’s not a free-for-all.
The therapist creates a productive atmosphere where members of the family can be heard and express their ideas without being overtalked by other family members. When this type of communicative environment is provided, you might begin to realize that people’s words have meaning.
When you’re angry and under the influence of substances or alcohol, it’s challenging to receive the words someone is saying with an open mind. In family therapy, no matter how brutal someone’s words might be, you have the chance to address things differently.
Better communication is also key to identifying the destructive roles that are playing a part in your family’s codependency issues. Each person being able to recognize the part they’ve played will be helpful moving forward, as you continue to work together to ensure a healthy environment for everyone.
By restructuring the way you communicate with one another, you can reduce the feeling of being attacked and embrace the idea that the people in your family want to be there for you and help you.
Safe Space for Expression
Expression is along the same lines as communication, but it’s also different.
Most conversations you’ve had with your loved ones throughout your addiction have centered around the things you’ve done wrong and their lack of understanding addiction as a disease.
In family therapy, you can express your feelings without fear of retaliation. Keep in mind, however, that therapy is not a place for people to act like the victim.
It’s a place where you can be open and honest about your feelings and the way things have felt from your perspective. You can’t speak for others, but you can voice your emotions and how you’ve been affected by your addiction.
As you’re expressing, it’s the perfect time to apologize. If you’re not ready to apologize, then don’t, because there’s nothing worse than giving a fake apology to the people you’ve hurt.
Giving an apology before you’re ready will only do more damage overall and you’re trying to mend past damage, not cause more.
Learn to Set Boundaries
In addiction, boundaries can become blurred for everyone involved. Setting boundaries can help you protect yourself and others from future destructive behavior.
For example, if you’ve used frequently in your parents’ home during your addiction, one of their boundaries might be that if you’re not clean, you’re not allowed to visit. While it might seem harsh, it shows you they’re serious about you getting help and don’t want to continue living in a toxic cycle.
As someone in recovery, one of your boundaries could be not going to certain places. The last thing you want to do is intentionally put yourself in a position where you could face the temptation to use.
When you set boundaries, there might be some people at first who don’t support them, but you’ve got to stick to them. The therapist will walk you through how to set your boundaries and detail why boundaries are important, especially for families dealing with addiction.
After you’ve set your boundaries, it’s common to spend time talking about them with your family members, so everyone is aware of what they are. It gets the initial shock out of the way.
Again, some of the boundaries your family members put in place may seem hurtful and unnecessary, but given your history, these boundaries are needed and must be followed. If no changes are made, recovery will be a hard and rocky path to travel.
Family Therapy Topics
In family therapy, you’ll talk about a series of things, and some of them we’ve discussed above.
Here are some of the topics you can expect to touch on in family therapy and why they’re important to address head-on. Remember change isn’t made by ignoring something.
It’s done by shining a light on it and picking it apart until a solution is reached for everyone involved.
Past Trauma and Abuse
30% of all cases related to PTSD stem from sexual trauma that has taken place at some point in a person’s life. If you don’t take time to address past trauma and abuse that has taken place, you’re going to continue to find ways to numb and avoid your emotions.
In therapy, you’ll discuss these past traumas because you’d be surprised how many parents weren’t aware these things have happened to their children. It’s helpful to talk to them about traumas that have taken place, because much like education about addiction, it helps them understand and see your addiction differently.
Talking about past trauma is also important because you get a chance to vent and process what has happened to you. You also get a chance to receive the help you need to learn to deal with these traumas instead of continuing to bury them.
You can’t be productive and move forward if you refuse to address certain aspects of your past and understand that they will continue to fuel your need to use if left unaddressed.
Parenting Skills
Parents strive to provide their children with a positive upbringing, but in some homes, the techniques used by parents have led their children down the path they are on today. For example, if a child grows up seeing their parents succumb to their addictions, they might begin to think these things are normal and display them in their own lives.
This topic is not in place for you to blame your parents for your problems. It is simply a tool that can be used to show how some of their actions may have contributed to your own.
When you talk about this topic in family therapy, depending on your parents, they might not understand the correlation between their parenting and how you’ve turned out. That’s okay; you’re not in therapy to force them to acknowledge anything.
You can only share the information with them and allow them to do what they want with it. If they are open to talking about it, that’s fantastic.
If not, it’s a sign that more in-depth work is needed before you’ve reached a place where certain topics can be discussed openly and freely.
Mental Health Issues
Mental health problems can run in families, and it should be something to talk about. Every family handles mental issues differently, but for people with addictions, the use of alcohol and substances can make your mental health worse.
Talking about mental health problems can remove the stigma surrounding getting the help you need to improve your mental health. It also makes it clear that you might not be the only one in your family who needs to have a mental evaluation performed.
Even if things feel hopeless, it’s not too late. You and your family can turn things around and build a healthy relationship.
Family Therapy in Addiction Treatment
Family therapy in addiction treatment is an important part of your overall program. When you leave treatment, you’ll return to a place where you’re surrounded by family members, and if you’ve not taken time to work through past issues, it could set you up for failure.
From discussions about trauma to taking the time to rebuild broken trust, family therapy is a vital tool in treating addiction. Are you ready to take control of your life?
The first step is educating yourself by clicking on one of the other blogs we’ve provided in this section for you. There is tons of information available for you; you’ve just got to take the time to read it.
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