Family Program Mends the Damage Caused by Addiction
Family Program Mends the Damage Caused by Addiction
The toughest two days when I was in addiction treatment was the family program. I remember dreading it and being filled with anxiety the whole week prior. After a couple weeks of being sober and with my head clearing I was quickly realizing that my alcohol and drug addiction not only affected me but also my family. I couldn’t help but think of how many times I had disappeared for days leaving my family and friends worrying about me. How many times I told some lie about why I didn’t show up or why I needed someone to float me a loan. How many times I started a fight because I was upset that I couldn’t get my hands on any drugs. To say the least the family program my family and I participated in was not easy. There was anger, tears and disappointment coming from both sides. One thing that was evident was that we didn’t know how to communicate with each other and we had no boundaries. My family learned that if we were ever going to repair our relationship then they were going to have to create boundaries from me. They had to let me be responsible for my recovery and if I slipped and relapsed then they had to let me be the one to reach out for help and get my life back on track. They could not be responsible for the decisions that I made or for my recovery. None of this was going to be easy but with the help and support of the addiction treatment center it was a task that was possible. Without a family program I may have been able to stay sober but I definitely would not have the relationship that I have with my family now. It took a while but with the direction from the professionals at addiction treatment we now have a relationship that I wouldn’t give up for anything.
