Drug Addiction Within the Family

Every person in the life of an addict is affected by their behavior. Encouragement from family and friends to seek help for the drug addiction, and support during the recovery process are vital to a successful recovery. But if these relationships are in reality more codependent than sincerely supportive, an addict's chances for relapsing into continued drug use are significantly higher.

Medical and therapeutic professionals at The Canyon are adept at helping you determine the root causes of your drug and alcohol addiction and address them during your drug treatment.

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Drug Addiction And Family Roles

Codependency refers to dysfunctional behaviors that are learned in childhood as a result of having to survive in a family that suffers from emotional distress. Controlling or caretaking behaviors, insistence on perfectionism, avoidance of feelings or intimacy, distrust, hyper vigilance, and stress-related illnesses are all warning signs of codependency.

Typical family roles can be broken down into six distinct "characters" that codependent family members unconsciously act out:

• The Hero - the perfectionist that needs to make everyone and everything look good, refuses to acknowledge problems/pretends they don't exist (underneath the "hero" persona, this person constantly struggles with feelings of guilt, shame, and fear)
• The Mascot - the family comedian that uses off-color humor about people or situations (to hide feelings of shame, embarrassment, and anger)
• The Lost Child - the quiet one who doesn't like to make waves, avoids confrontation to the point of giving up on their own needs (secretly feels lonely, neglected, angry, and guilty)
• The Scapegoat - the rowdy one that acts out in order to divert attention away from the real problem (rebels against their true feelings of shame, guilt, and emptiness)
• The Caretaker/Enabler - tries to keep everybody happy by placating and making excuses for others' behavior, puts on airs of a problem-free family for outside people (denies their underlying fears of inadequacy and helplessness)
• The Addict - the center of the family's attention, but surprisingly not the only person in this type of family unit who needs treatment for their addictive behaviors

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Understanding Drug Addiction and Codependency in the Family

Certain family rules - whether spoken or unspoken - are more likely to bring about codependency. Teaching children to keep feelings or problems to themselves, communicate indirectly through other people, always be perfect and make your parents proud, and the infamous "Do as I say, not as I do" negates a child's sense of self.

It is the combined problem of unhealthy behaviors that lays the foundation for drug addiction. Codependent relationships force the roles to define the person, instead of allowing a persons individual thoughts, talents, or abilities to tell their story.

If recovery is to be effective, each member of the family must be willing to admit and accept responsibility for their "supporting role" in the family drama. Overcoming codependency means each person involved must be willing and able to recognize one another's independence.

Shedding the roles in which we have been cast allows our creative, spontaneous energy to be focused on the real issue - providing sensible, self-empowering support to the person struggling with addiction.

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Treatment for Drug Addiction Within the Family at The Canyon

The Canyon staff recognizes the importance and need of family involvement (whenever possible) in an individual's recovery process. We provide education about the impact of addictive behavior on the family as well as the challenges that arise for the family when a client begins the recovery process. We work toward making family therapy a significant part of each individual's treatment experience. The Canyon staff believes that in order to provide the best treatment possible for each client we need to make decisions about family therapy on a case by case basis following discussion with our treatment team and each individual. In order to more effectively assess whether family therapy is clinically indicated, The Canyon staff (with an individual's permission) may consult with an individual's referring therapist and family members. The Canyon provides many opportunities for clients to work on family issues in group and individual therapy as well as offering Family of Origin programs on a regular basis. The Family of Origin program is likely to be more intense and take place over a weekend in order to accommodate family members and allow time for the healing of family relationships to begin.

If you think that our process might be what you or your loved one are looking for in a treatment program, contact us at our calling center today at .

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