Family therapy

Family therapy has been shown to be a very effective form of treatment for people struggling with addiction. Several studies have shown that it’s especially effective for keeping people retained and engaged in treatment, lowering the dropout rate. It’s been shown to be especially useful for adolescent patients, but there are also strong effects in adult patients, such as the ones listed below.

• Destigmatising addiction: by discussing the realities of addiction in a non-adversarial, compassionate way, family members come away with improved understanding and empathy towards the person in addiction. The person in addiction can also gain empathy and understanding for family members who have been affected by their actions.
• Improved communication between family members: This leads to healthier family dynamics, reduced conflict and better overall family functioning.
• Addressing related problems: The focus of family therapy for addiction is not solely on substance misuse but also on improving relationships between all family members. This means related issues such as truancy, job struggles, mental health struggles and difficult behaviours can be worked on together.
• Improved boundaries: Addiction can thrive in environments where people have poor boundaries. Family therapy offers a neutral space to work on acceptable boundaries together.
• Relapse prevention: Strong support networks are a vital tool in relapse prevention, and by repairing and strengthening the most important relationships of a person in recovery, they gain a source of strength that will help them to face and beat their addiction.
• Addressing multigenerational issues: Addiction can help to break the cycle of drug abuse by addressing it in older generations of the family as well as in the person currently undergoing addiction treatment.
• Forgiveness: The work of family therapy is hard – but family therapy offers a forum to work through hard emotions, which leads to healing and forgiveness.

The initial stages of family therapy will focus on you getting to know your therapist and them getting to know you and the family members attending with you. Your goals for therapy can be identified and set together. From there, you will work with your therapist in a variety of ways to achieve those goals.

During your time with a family therapist, you might work on:

• Discussing your goals and hopes as a family
• Verbalising your experiences and listening to the experiences of your family members
• Respecting each other’s contributions
• Valuing each family member’s beliefs, values and needs
• Tackling blame and finding constructive ways of working together
• Understanding the impacts words and actions have on other members of the family
• Exploring and valuing each family member’s strengths
• Talking about challenges
• Supporting each other as you work towards your own goals.

Family therapy is a valuable tool for treating addiction and for improving familial dynamics and relationships – but you do not have to attend family therapy, and you will never be pushed to do so.

For some people, their relationship with their family may have become especially strained, and they or their families will not want to participate. The decision to undertake family therapy is deeply personal, and every person present needs to consent to the process fully.

If you don’t want to undergo family therapy, or you do, but family members don’t wish to do so, you can still receive effective and comprehensive addiction treatment. Family therapy is just one of many therapeutic options available in rehab. Many forms of individual therapy are available, while group therapy options are available if you want to attend therapy with others.

Oasis Bradford offers a wide range of therapies and treatments tailored to you and your needs, so we can find the most effective way to help. Don’t struggle in silence – reach out today to access the help you need to achieve a healthier, sober future.