When one person has an addiction, it affects everyone in their life. This effect is especially noticeable in their friends and loved ones. Those closest to an individual with addiction often have the most difficult time understanding, accepting, and supporting that individual. At New Bridge Foundation®, we want to help bridge this gap through our family counseling programs.
Family and Addiction
Addiction is often referred to as the “family disease.” This name comes from the lasting effect addiction can have on an entire family. Families are systems: every member of the family plays a role in supporting the others. When one person in the family stops being able to fulfill their role, everyone else feels the effects.
With addiction, it is common for the disease to control the entire life of a person. They may stop being able to go to work, take care of children, or provide emotional support to their spouse. Furthermore, they may even become defensive, aggressive, or secretive, further isolating them from the family.
In response, the family will begin to feel the effects of this loved one’s absence. They may begin suffering financially, feel abandoned, or resent the individual. Without a proper understanding of the disease of addiction through family counseling services, addiction can completely disrupt and destroy a family.
What Are Family Counseling Services?
Family counseling services serve as a means to prevent further damage to the family system. Typically, conflict due to addiction comes from a misunderstanding or lack of education about addiction. The family may believe that their loved one chose to develop an addiction, or that they don’t want help. Helping the family understand how and why the addiction began can help them better connect with each other.
Furthermore, family counseling services give the individual with the addiction the chance to see how their actions affect others. Addiction can be extremely isolating, so those with addiction often believe they’re the only ones suffering. Family counseling services bring to light the ways the whole family is affected, allowing the individual to feel less alone on their recovery journey.
Once families learn to reconnect through family counseling, they can develop a support system that will help the individual in recovery stay on the path of sobriety. This open line of communication can also help the person prevent relapse, manage symptoms of mental health disorders, and cope with stress during recovery.
Types of Family Counseling
At New Bridge Foundation®, we offer several types of family counseling services including both group and individual counseling. For individuals in our Short-Term Residential Rehab (Helios) we offer family counseling every other week during treatment as well as weekly multi-family group sessions. Both types of sessions are led by an experienced counselor who will help families better understand each other and addiction.
In our Long-Term Residential Rehab (START), family counseling services occur on an as-needed basis. Individual family counseling sessions give families time to discuss and reconnect with the help of a professional counselor. Once a month, we offer multi-family group sessions similar to those in our Helios program.
Begin Treatment with New Bridge Foundation®
New Bridge Foundation® is an addiction treatment facility in Berkeley, California. Our facility offers a diverse range of addiction treatment programs and addiction counseling services. In addition to family counseling, these services include but are not limited to:
Addiction may make the future seem bleak, but it does not have to be. To learn more about the programs and treatment modalities that we offer at New Bridge Foundation®, call us at 866-772-8491.