A man with a beard and mustache wearing a tie.Individuals struggling with addiction have many addiction therapy program options available. Family therapy is among the most common and most effective. Not only is it effective in providing support, but it can also show family members how they enabled an addiction in the first place.

While therapy involving family members can be helpful, it won’t stop addiction by itself. Therapy is just one important piece to a much larger puzzle. The road to recovery is long, but the right types of therapy can help.

What Is Family Therapy?

In order to understand the benefits of family counseling, it’s important to know what actually defines a family. Some people think of family members as people who are related by blood, while others consider their close friends as family. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) defines a family as people who have a close emotional connection.

Effective family therapy stems from the idea that the family is a system. Whether positive or negative, all of the people in that system have an effect on each other. Therefore, if one person changes or has a problem, it impacts the entire family. This is especially true of addiction.

Keeping that in mind, family therapy typically involves sessions or meetings with various family members or close friends. Sometimes, these meetings involve the loved one with the addiction. Other times, the sessions only involve certain family members. In either case, the end goal remains to develop an understanding for the person who’s suffering from addiction.

Benefits of Family-Involved Therapy

People typically lump all forms of family therapy together. However, there are actually many different types. One example of this is family-involved therapy. Family-involved therapy doesn’t follow the same traditional format of other group counseling sessions. Since certain relationship patterns can contribute to loved ones developing an addiction, this type of counseling educates family members about issues such as:

  • Substance abuse
  • Addiction
  • Related behaviors
  • Psychological problems
  • Medical problems

This type of counseling helps because not all family members fully understand addiction. Not understanding makes it hard for them to offer emotional and psychological support. Family-involved therapy lets the family know that addiction isn’t a choice, but rather a mental disorder.

It can also help the family rebuild communication and trust after struggling to deal with their loved one’s addiction. Doing so creates a supportive family network that can help reduce relapse in the individual.

How Family Therapy Helps Family Members

When individuals receive addiction therapy, most of the sessions revolve around helping just them. However, family therapy aims to help the whole family. Not only does it help the affected loved one, but family members get to work through their issues as well. The best family therapy programs promote the fact that the family dynamic impacts addiction, both positively and negatively in some instances.

Beyond that, this style of therapy allows family members to voice their own anxieties and conflicts. This element is important because it helps those with addiction see that their actions impact more than just themselves. The goal is to rebuild trust among family members and rekindle the family support system.

Get the Support You Need at Memphis Recovery

At Memphis Recovery, we offer a lot more than just family therapy sessions. Our services include:

Although it can be a significant treatment component, we also offer other types of therapy programs, including:

We pride ourselves on providing non-profit addiction treatmentfocused solely on helping individuals and their families heal. Because no two people are the same, we believe in individualized treatment plans.

Don’t live another day fighting your addiction alone. Contact Memphis Recovery Centers today at 901-272-7751 to see how we can rebuild the trust between you and your entire family.