Family Therapy Program

Steps Recovery Center recognizes how vital the mind, body, and spirit are in their connection to the whole person. We take a holistic approach to treating opiate addiction that includes treating the whole person, and find that it tends to be more successful, especially since addiction affects every aspect of a person’s life. With a customized and individualized program that includes family therapy, a holistic approach just makes sense. It affords an opportunity to meet the patient’s physical and psychological needs and allows them to engage physically, emotionally, and mentally

What is a Family Therapy Program?

In a recovery center, often, you will see programs geared toward family involvement. This therapy is a collection of therapeutic approaches that share a belief in family-level assessment and intervention. When something happens to one part of the family, the rest is affected; therefore, for a family unit to function again, family therapy programs are needed. When using this point of view, therapy can strengthen and bring about change in various problem areas, including substance abuse.

Family therapy has two primary purposes: it seeks to use the family’s strengths and resources to help discover new ways to live without addiction, and it mitigates the impact of chemical dependency on both the individual and the family. Basic support is needed to marshal the family’s strengths in this process.

What Does Family Therapy Entail?

According to the National Institutes of Health, in family therapy, the unit of treatment is the family and the individual within the context of the family system. Therefore, the person abusing substances is regarded as a subsystem within the family unit and whose symptoms have severe consequences throughout the family system. The familial relationships within this subsystem are the points of therapeutic interest and intervention.

The therapist facilitates discussion and problem-solving sessions involving the entire family, or maybe just one participant, such as a parent or even the person with the substance abuse disorder. Note that family-involved therapy and family therapy is distinct in that the former educates families about the relationship patterns that generally contribute to the formation and continuation of substance abuse. Family therapy has its origins in the 1950s, adding a systemic focus to previous understandings of the family, in which it recognized that:

A whole system is more than a sum of its parts.
Parts of a system are interconnected.
Specific rules determine the functioning of the system.
Promoting or guarding against system chaos or disorder is a powerful dynamic in the family system, balancing change of the family roles and rules.

Family Therapy Models

Family therapy has evolved over the years, with many variations on the family therapy theme. One consistent thing is that it involves a therapist meeting with several family members. They could treat the addict’s spouse, children in age groups, or members of a residential treatment setting. It may or may not also involve the addict themselves.

Most family therapy programs meetings take place in private practice settings or a clinic or recovery treatment center. It can also take place in a residence, where privacy and a feeling of comfort can help overcome stigma, shame, and resistance. Also, meeting the family in their own home provides valuable information about how the family functions in real-time.

There are four main therapy models used as the basis for treatment and specific interventions for substance abuse:

Goals of Family Therapy

Family therapy not only helps families become aware of their needs, but it provides genuine and enduring healing for members. It works to shift power to the parental figures in a family and to improve communication. Family therapy can answer questions, including

What impact does a parent abusing substances have on their children?
Why should children or adolescents be involved in the treatment of a parent or sibling who abuses substances?
What is the impact of substance abuse on non-addicts?
How does adolescent abuse affect adults?

Whether an adult or child abuses substances, it doesn’t matter. The entire family unit needs to change—not just the person abusing the substance. Family therapy assists the family in making interpersonal, intrapersonal, and environmental changes, thus helping to affect change in the individual abusing substances. It fosters openness and support and love for every member, as well as an understanding and acceptance of the addict.