Family Addiction Counseling
Substance use disorders involve powerful cravings and compulsions to keep drinking or using. Ultimately, this self-destructive behavior has a ripple effect on loved ones, making addiction a family disease.
How Does Addiction Affect Families?
Codependency, enabling and failure to set boundaries are examples of the dysfunctional behavior that frequently occurs in families touched by addiction. Out of a misdirected desire to support your loved one, you might pay their bills or cover for their frequent absences from work. Unfortunately, your well-meaning efforts will allow the problems to worsen.
Over time, an unaddressed substance use disorder will become the elephant in the room at every family gathering. Your family dynamic can also become imbalanced due to issues like resentment, dishonesty, manipulation and mistrust.
Your Loved One’s Illness Can Also Make You Sick
Long-term substance use issues can gradually chip away at your mental well-being. Putting so much time and energy toward trying to help your loved one can be exhausting and cause you to neglect essential responsibilities.
Family members of addicted loved ones also carry a heavy burden of stress. You might constantly worry about how your loved one is spending time or money or even whether they are safe, happy and healthy. The resulting chronic anxiety can affect nearly every organ and system in your body. People living with elevated cortisol levels experience a host of problems, from inflammation to insomnia. You can also be more vulnerable to developing depression and other mood disorders.
What to Expect in Family Addiction Counseling
While you may recognize your loved one’s need for treatment, the rest of your family can also benefit from counseling. In family therapy for drug addiction, you can start understanding the underlying causes of your family’s most significant problems. You will learn how to listen to each other without judgment and how to take a more empathetic approach to conflict resolution.
Cumberland Heights’ addiction specialists have designed our family programming to educate family members about the disease of addiction and help you understand the elements of a successful treatment program. You’ll also receive the compassion necessary for you to begin your healing process. A qualified family therapist can help strengthen the interactions between each member of the family by highlighting the various roles everyone has played and how those might have contributed to any dysfunction.
Though there are no shortcuts in addiction recovery, family support is an essential ingredient. Using the tools gained in family therapy, you can learn how to help your loved one prevent a relapse, pick them up when their motivation falters and encourage them to continue focusing on their self-care.
Family Addiction Counseling in Knoxville, TN
Even when your family member’s substance use disorder has hurt your relationship and been a significant source of stress in your life, your love endures. Family addiction counseling is the best way for everyone to begin healing and moving forward together.
Cumberland Heights operates a licensed outpatient addiction treatment center in Knoxville. We use proven, evidence-based therapies backed by more than 55 years of experience. Our multipronged approach involves family involvement. As the first Tennessee treatment center to receive accreditation from the American Society of Addiction Medicine, our mission is to tailor plans to our clients’ unique needs. Connect with us to learn more about our clinically excellent practices.
Take the first step in a life free from addiction. Begin your recovery today.
Call Us Today at (615) 257-9608 or Fill Out the Form Below
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