Most communities have extended very little sympathy to people with severe drug and alcohol addictions. Our culture still tends to see people who suffer from addiction as being isolated individuals who don’t have the willpower to get better. However, every person suffering from addiction comes from a family and a community, both of which can play an important role in their recovery.
One study shows that large numbers of people dealing with SUDs, especially younger people, still live at home or are in daily contact with their families. Further, one of the leading relapse triggers is a lack of familial support. This is why we stress so heavily the crucial role of the family in recovery services at Waypoint Recovery Center.
Why Social Support is Key To Maintaining Sobriety
Social support can be extended to a recovering individual by others in recovery, by family members, and by friends. Social support offers not only kindness but also concrete forms of help, like driving a person to AA meetings or picking them up from work so they aren’t tempted to stop for a drink. Social support helps those in recovery recreate relationships, build trust in the community, and prioritize their sobriety.
The family is the most direct form of social support. The family unit is often our first experience with social conduct, rules, values, beliefs, motivation, emotional closeness, self-worth, financial experiences, problem-solving, and trauma. Reconnecting with family is often a huge incentive for a person to get sober.
That said, addiction in one person affects the entire family. For that reason, all families dealing with addiction can benefit from help and guidance in learning how to heal and rebuild trusting relationships.
Why Family Members Need Help, Too
Studies show two main reasons to involve family members in the recovery process. Firstly, family units almost always sustain psychological, physical, or financial harm due to their loved one’s SUD. Their pain and emotional injuries deserve attention and acknowledgment. When family members enter into treatment alongside their loved one—via family therapy or an intensive outpatient program—they mitigate those negative effects and rebuild trust.
Secondly, when a person healing from addiction sees that their family members are willing to enter some form of treatment alongside them, they’re much more likely to do well in treatment.
By entering into family programs, you’re lessening the harmful impact of addiction on the individual, the other individual members of the family unit, and the family unit itself for generations to come.
Waypoint Recovery Center Family Services in South Carolina
We offer family services for addiction in two locations in South Carolina: Cameron and North Charleston. Both facilities work diligently and passionately to include family in the recovery process from start to finish. Through individual family sessions, family involvement in discharge planning, and up to a month of family and peer support services following client release, we’re here to uplift families and the larger South Carolina community.
We encourage all concerned family and friends to contact us today to learn more about jump-starting their loved one’s recovery journey and the healing it will bring to everyone involved.
