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Family therapy focuses on the relationships between family members: partners, children, parents, siblings, and dependents, offering support for the entire unit to heal from the negative effects of a loved one’s addiction. And although you are not struggling with compulsive behaviours or a substance use disorder, addiction counselling can help you, too. It provides a space to address communication, boundaries, and emotional well-being, promoting understanding, resilience, and recovery within the family dynamic.
If you have come to this page looking for help, worried about the relationships within your family unit, then you have come to the right place. We can help mend the cracks that addiction has created in your fellowship and fix any broken bonds.
What Can Family Therapy Help With?
Family therapy in addiction treatment helps in several key areas:
- Understanding addiction’s impact: It educates families about addiction and its effects, fostering knowledge and awareness.
- Communication and conflict resolution: It improves family communication patterns and equips them with conflict resolution skills.
- Establishing boundaries and support: It helps set clear boundaries, helps learn how to prevent enabling behaviours and promotes a supportive environment.
- Rebuilding trust and repairing relationships: It addresses strained relationships, rebuilding trust and fostering healing.
- Relapse prevention: It provides tools and strategies to identify triggers and prevent relapse, involving the family in the process.
- Family role in aftercare: It supports the family’s ongoing involvement in the individual’s recovery journey, even after formal treatment ends.
Overall, family therapy strengthens family bonds, improves communication, provides education, and supports the well-being of both the individual in recovery and their loved ones.
Sometimes Substance Abuse Is Overlooked
Substance abuse is sometimes overlooked in families for various reasons. The main factor being, denial. Family members may struggle to accept or acknowledge that their loved one has a substance abuse problem. They may downplay or rationalise the signs and symptoms, refusing to believe the severity of the issue.
Additionally, the stigma and shame associated with substance abuse can lead families to hide or ignore the problem out of fear of judgment. Lack of knowledge about the signs, symptoms, and consequences of substance abuse can also contribute to overlooking the issue.
Furthermore, enabling behaviours, such as protecting the individual from facing consequences or providing financial support, can inadvertently perpetuate the problem. Underlying emotional dynamics, like codependency or unresolved conflicts, can further distract attention from substance abuse.
It is crucial for families to recognise these factors and create an open, supportive environment where education, awareness, and professional help are sought to address substance abuse effectively.
Why Involve Family & Friends?
When helping you heal from an addiction, we will often ask you to include family therapy sessions in your programme. This is because involving family and friends in addiction counselling is crucial since they provide a strong support system for you as you are struggling with managing your compulsions. They offer emotional encouragement and understanding throughout the recovery journey.
Additionally, involving loved ones helps create a more comprehensive and holistic treatment approach by addressing family dynamics, communication patterns, and potential enabling behaviours. It allows for increased accountability and motivation as you will have a network of support actively involved in your recovery.
Your family and friends can gain knowledge about addiction, learn coping strategies, and acquire tools to contribute positively to your long-term sobriety. But not only this, they can also learn about how to heal their own trauma which may have been caused by outbursts and arguments caused by the addiction present in the family.
Goals of Family Counselling in Addiction
Before you engage with the family therapy services we offer, let’s look at the goals of this kind of counselling:
Enhance understanding
Improve communication
Rebuild trust
Establish healthy boundaries
Develop coping strategies
Enhance support
Address family dynamics
Educate on relapse prevention
Facilitate aftercare support
Promote overall family well-being
If you and your loved ones successfully go through your family counselling, perform all the exercises and actively participate in your meetings, you will be able to uncover underlying family problems. And solve them.
What Happens During the Family Therapy Sessions?
During family therapy sessions, family members come together to explore and address the impact of addiction on your relationships and overall well-being. Our licensed therapist will facilitate open communication, will help identify unhealthy dynamics and will support the development of healthier interactions.
Collaborative problem-solving, conflict resolution, and building trust are often emphasised during our sessions. The focus is on understanding each family member’s perspective while promoting empathy and understanding.
Family therapy sessions may involve education on addiction, developing coping strategies, setting boundaries, and enhancing communication skills. Ultimately, the goal is to strengthen the family unit, improve relationships, and create a solid foundation for long-term recovery.
Find Out if Outpatient Therapy Is Right for You
Relational Reframing
Relational reframing in family therapy involves shifting the perspective and understanding of family dynamics and relationships. Our therapists will help you view the context of interpersonal patterns and explore alternative interpretations so that family members can reframe negative perceptions, assumptions and communication patterns.
Family Systems Therapy and the Genogram
Family Systems Therapy explores the interdependencies and interactions within a family, recognising the influence each member has on the system as a whole. A valuable tool in this therapy is the Genogram, which visually maps family relationships and highlights patterns and significant events. By gaining insight into these dynamics, therapists assist families in resolving conflicts, fostering healthier connections, and cultivating a greater understanding of how their system functions.
Types of Family Counselling
Types of family counselling encompass various therapeutic approaches designed to support families in addressing challenges, improving relationships, and fostering a healthier and more harmonious family dynamic.
Multisystemic Therapy
Multisystemic Therapy (MST) is an evidence-based approach that targets the multiple systems influencing a young person’s behaviour, such as family, school, and community, to create positive and lasting change, using a comprehensive and tailored treatment plan.
Functional Family Therapy
Functional Family Therapy (FFT) is an evidence-based therapy that focuses on improving family dynamics by identifying and addressing dysfunctional patterns of communication and behaviour, with the goal of enhancing family relationships, reducing conflict, and promoting positive individual and family functioning.
Transgenerational Therapy
Transgenerational Therapy is a therapeutic approach that explores how past family experiences and unresolved issues can impact the present generation, aiming to bring awareness and understanding to intergenerational patterns and dynamics, facilitating healing and promoting healthier relationships across generations.
Dialectical Therapy
DBT is an evidence-based therapy which we offer for those who will benefit from it for treating personality disorders and interpersonal conflicts.
It is very valuable when dealing with dual diagnosis in the family unit.
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Find Your Therapist Today – Reach Out to CATCH Recovery
At CATCH Recovery, our team of experienced family therapists and counsellors are here to provide you with the support you need. We understand that each family is unique and we employ a range of therapeutic approaches to best meet your needs.
We offer both in-person and remote family counselling sessions, as well as multisystemic therapy for young people and their families. Contact us today to find out more about our services and how we can help you.