While families don’t cause addictive disorders, they can be among one of the many factors that impact the development of addiction. Sometimes, this can happen in ways that are more obvious compared to others. For example, in families where one or both parents abuse alcohol or other drugs, this can lead to children being more likely to do the same. There is also growing research to suggest that there is a genetic factor to alcohol addiction, meaning that it could be inherited.
When people have addictive disorders, their family can have an impact on how these disorders develop. They might ignore the problem and therefore end up contributing to it, or help by being able to motivate their family member to enter a treatment program and ultimately get sober. Family therapy can be an ideal way to help the family achieve this.
What Does a Family Therapist Do?
A family therapy program is provided by a family therapist and focuses on home life, so it is different from the substance abuse counseling that is usually provided as part of an addiction treatment program. Family therapists are usually more highly educated when it comes to specifically providing therapy and support to families. In most states, they will have been required to take exams to get a license to practice family therapy.
What is Family Therapy?
What does family therapy involve? During this treatment, the therapist will view the family as a ‘system’ or ‘unit’. Family members will usually be involved in the program, attending family sessions with the client for the purpose of substance abuse treatment. Family therapy can still be practiced even if not all members of the family are present. In some cases, it might be useful, or recommended by the therapist for the client to have sessions with certain family members on their own so that they can observe and focus on how they interact with that person. In some sessions, the therapist might act in the role of another family member.
How Family Therapy Can Be Beneficial in Addiction Treatment
There are many ways that family therapy can help people who are getting treatment for substance abuse and their family. One of the main ways that it can help is with supporting and showing the client how to use the resources of the family to support their recovery. Along with this, family therapy can be very beneficial when it comes to teaching the entire family healthy coping mechanisms and reducing the impact of addiction on the client and their family members. Family therapy can help with repairing relationships within the family system for those who are in substance abuse treatment. And, it can be a useful treatment for preventing the continuation of substance abuse among family members, breaking the cycle particularly in situations where children have grown up observing one or both parents dealing with substance addiction.
When it comes to getting treatment for addiction, a supportive family can be one of the best resources that a person has. With the help of family therapy, the whole family can heal.
