Alcoholism has well-documented impacts on individuals, but prolonged struggle with alcoholism can severely impact family members as well, damaging relationships between family, friends, and other loved ones. If you are an individual with a family member struggling with addiction or alcoholism, you might wonder what resources are available to you to help you cope, to give you educational information, and to support your loved one.
Liberty House Recovery is the best luxury drug and alcohol rehab center in Michigan. Contact us today to learn more about the benefits of drug treatment centers in Michigan.
Family Therapy
The best alcoholic family resource is to participate in family therapy. Family therapy can involve any number of family members; they don’t necessarily have to be direct blood relatives. They can include distant cousins, aunts, half-siblings, and even godparents.
When an individual enters into a residential alcohol rehab program, they will start by focusing on detox and self-care. This will involve several sessions of individual and group therapy each week. After certain progress has been made, many facilities like Liberty House will open up the treatment program to incorporate family therapy.
When this happens, chosen family members are able to come to the treatment facility at designated times to be involved in family therapy sessions facilitated by a counselor, therapist, or psychiatrist.
During these sessions, individuals have an opportunity to reflect on the way in which alcoholism has impacted the family dynamics, what emotions might be involved, how alcoholism works, what a trigger is, and how to best support one another moving forward.
Resources for Families of Addicts
If your family member is struggling with addiction or alcoholism, participation in ongoing support groups can provide you with an alcoholic family resource where you can turn when you have questions, when you aren’t sure how to best support your loved one, or when you just need to talk.
AA
AA provides resources for families of alcoholics:
- You can find local group therapy for families of alcoholics in your area
- You can review resources for families of addicts on how to help them quit or get help
- You can take quizzes to see how any AA alcoholic family resource might benefit you or your family
Support Groups
Support groups of any time conserve as an essential part of addiction treatment for loved ones whose family members are struggling with alcoholism. Ongoing support groups or family therapy can provide a place for everyone to learn how to better communicate, support one another, recognize triggers, and overall contribute to the chances of success for your loved one.
Online Resources
Several online resources have become available. For example, if you are looking for an alcoholic family resource, visit websites like alcohol.org or the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.
These websites and corresponding resources are particularly effective in providing educational resources for families of addicts and alcoholics. It provides research-based information on the impact that drinking can have on your loved one, yourself, and other family members.
Other sites like the CDC provide similar information on alcohol use and the impact it has on health.
Other online resources include online therapy, which can be readily accessed no matter where you are. This is a great resource for families, especially when their loved one is out of contact and undergoing alcohol rehab. Online therapy can be slightly more casual than organized AA meetings, with a chance to work through individual feelings of guilt, shame, hopelessness, or mistrust that may have developed.
Group Therapy for Families of Alcoholics at Liberty House
Clients who attend our residential treatment facility are more likely to remain in attendance and avoid relapse after treatment if they have involvement with loved ones. That is why we offer group therapy for families of alcoholics. We believe that clients are much more likely to succeed if they are involved in different types of counseling and holistic interventions.
The most successful individualized therapy programs incorporate alternative holistic care and individual and group therapies. In traditional therapies like cognitive behavioral therapy, individuals can talk about their fears, learn more about things that may have contributed to alcoholism, and develop healthy coping mechanisms.
These psychotherapies are more effective if they integrate family programming. Involving family members provides crucial support for loved ones during their recovery and when they return home. Access to resources for families of alcoholics can provide loved ones with the information they need to:
- Understand what a trigger is
- Avoid enabling behaviors
- Learn to recognize relapse symptoms
- Provide help and ongoing support
If you are ready to start group therapy for families of alcoholics or find other resources for families of alcoholics, call our team today.