Drug and alcohol addiction can wreak havoc on your mind and body, but the damage does not stop there. Families are often torn apart by a loved one’s addiction, and friendships deteriorate as you begin to give priority to the drug over others in your life. When you enter recovery, healing relationships will be crucial for getting clean and maintaining a sober lifestyle. For this reason, you must choose an addiction treatment center that includes a family therapy program.
Serenity House Detox & Recovery Houston provides well-rounded addiction treatment programs that treat the whole person. We understand how meaningful family relationships are to your recovery and fully support you with our family therapy program. To learn more about the advantages of family counseling in recovery, give us a call at 866.516.8356.
How Family Dynamics Affect Recovery
Even the best of family relationships can be destroyed by addiction. Family dynamics, the patterns of interaction between family members, can be helpful or harmful. Strained relationships can lead to addiction, interfere with recovery, and increase the risk of relapse. However, the benefits of a family therapy program as part of recovery may include:
- Learning how to set and follow through on healthy boundaries
- Learning how to support the person in recovery without enabling them
- Addressing family problems to alleviate stress in the household
- Dealing with trust issues to help the person in recovery rebuild relationships
- Developing healthy communication skills
Even if you are on bad terms with close family members, you should make your best effort to take advantage of family therapy programs.
Healing Relationships by Making Amends
Making amends is an essential part of a full recovery. It can also be one of the hardest parts. Sadly, addiction can cause you to engage in harmful behaviors like lying, cheating, and stealing. When you are sober, those uncharacteristic behaviors may be a source of embarrassment. Do not let that get in the way of making amends.
If you are procrastinating on making amends due to fear of rejection, here are some tips to help:
- Make a list of people who you believe may have been negatively impacted by your addiction. Take some time to think about how your behavior may have hurt them.
- Start small. Start making amends with those who have been openly supportive of you throughout medical detox and treatment. These will be the easiest relationships to heal and can help you get a positive momentum going.
- Think about any way they may have been hurt by your addiction and own up to it. Ask for their forgiveness.
- After making amends with a few people, ask them to help you make amends with those you fear may be unresponsive. If a certain friend or family member is not responding to your calls or texts, you can ask someone close to them to let them know that you are in recovery and making an effort to make things right.
- Do not beat yourself up if there are relationships that you cannot repair. Some people will not be open to rekindling your relationship. As long as you made an effort to make amends, accept it, and move on.
The best way to heal is to fully commit to making amends with those you may have wronged while you were addicted. If you need assistance, please reach out to Serenity House Detox & Recovery Houston today at 866.516.8356.
Start Healing With Serenity House Detox & Recovery Houston
At Serenity House Detox & Recovery Houston, we emphasize the importance of a comprehensive addiction treatment program that includes medication, individual counseling, and a family therapy program. Healing relationships when you are in recovery can help strengthen your support system and decrease stress in your life. This greatly reduces the risk of relapse so you can enjoy a long-lasting recovery. When you are looking for help with healing relationships harmed by addiction, give us a call at 866.516.8356.
