Impact of Treatment on the Family
Most people assume that the beginning of drug treatment means the end of a family’s problems. After all, there is now an end in sight and professionals have taken the reins.
But the truth is, treatment is a hardship for many families, and not just because the recovery process can be a bumpy, long road.
From the family’s perspective, treatment translates into ambivalence. Sure, everyone would like to halt the problems that accompany addiction. But at what cost? Is the family willing to change the way it operates? Are people willing to consider their contributions to the situation? Who will shoulder the extra responsibilities while one family member is out of the picture? Will the family’s income suffer? What about requirements for participation – do people really have the free time available to come to meetings, visits, or special events?
While treatment holds lots of long-term promise, separating a person from his or her family can be a challenge. After all, even if the family was dysfunction, it existed in harmony and balance. Everyone knew what would happen and who could be counted on to do what. With one person out of the picture, the family is thrown into chaos and imbalance.
Consider some of these typical concerns:
- Confidentiality – restricts information sharing and families may feel they are being kept in the dark
- Absence – with one person out of the picture, who takes up the slack? Families may need to make up lost income, or take on new child care or eldercare responsibilities.
- Contact – may be restricted if a loved one is in a residential setting. Family members of people attending outpatient programs may also feel that their loved one lacks the free time to participate in family events as needed.
- Expectations of family involvement – many programs state clearly that since addiction is a family disease, then recovery needs to be a family process. While one person may be enrolled in a program, other family members are expected to participate in meetings, counseling sessions, and special events. This may be a challenge if family members have had to take on additional responsibilities at home, or face transportation issues.
- Continued focus on substance abuse – people in drug treatment are told to focus on themselves, which from a family perspective represents a continuation of negative behavior. When will the focus turn back to the family and its needs?
- Visits – can be frustrating, awkward, and uncomfortable. They are not like normal family interactions.
- New behaviors – the person in treatment benefits from a daily regimen of therapeutic activities designed to shift behavior, encouraging open expression of feelings, honesty, and appropriate confrontation of negative behaviors and emotions. Family members have not been taught these same skills, and so may struggle to interact positively with a loved one who suddenly has begun to voice frustrations and issues.
- Guilt and shame – in their efforts to halt enabling behaviors, many clinicians end up making family members feel guilty for behavior that stems from love and generosity. Family members often end up feeling like their enabling behavior has been the primary factor in the addiction.
