When it comes to our addictions and mental illnesses, we rarely experience them in isolation, meaning that our loved ones, particularly our family members, are also often experiencing them alongside us, either because they are suffering themselves or because our relationships are so intertwined that they can’t help but be seriously impacted by our challenges. Our struggles can and often do hurt the entire family. The dishonesty, manipulation and harmful behaviors affect everyone involved, not just the individual addict. The stress, worry and sadness impact the whole family. Addiction is considered a family disease because its effects run rampant throughout the family and because there are often genetically inherited traits at play. When we’re working to recover, it’s so important to have family involvement be part of the process.
The issues we’re struggling with are often issues that relate to the whole family. We’re addressing family conflicts and traumatic experiences that affected our family as a whole. We’re dealing with problems that various family members have contributed to. We’ve inherited the pain and turmoil of our family legacies, and it has become part of the genetic, ancestral memory that continues throughout our families and stays with us. When working to heal, it only makes sense to heal these issues as a family in addition to individually, within ourselves. Some of us may not have living family members to work things through with, or we may not feel safe being in touch with them. For those of us who do, working with our families in family therapy, mediation and family workshops can make all the difference. It can help us to heal years-old issues and conflicts and reach a new level of understanding. It can help us learn how to deal with each other and communicate in healthier ways. It can help us develop the forgiveness, acceptance, detachment and release we need in order to really heal.
When we finish treatment, as we’re continuing our recovery work, we will be implementing everything we learned while reintegrating back into our former lives. For many of us, these lives include our families. We aren’t recovering on our own. We have our families, and all the issues therein, to contend with. It can therefore be extremely holistically beneficial to tackle our recovery as a family journey. We can let our family members support us as we heal. They can learn important lessons alongside us. They can be part of our healing and immerse themselves in the recovery process along with us. The more our family members are involved, the better our chances of rebuilding our relationships with them and truly recovering.
At The Guest House, family workshops are an important part of our recovery programs. Call 855-483-7800 today for more information.