How Can I Enjoy Family Day?

Family day is an opportunity for you to visit with your family and show them the progress you have made during your treatment. As each individual has differing relationships with their family members, this day can either be an exciting reward or a source of anxiety. However, no matter what your situation is with your family, you can use this day to your benefit.

Many treatment centers hold family day once a month, allowing you to follow up with your family on your progress and have an opportunity to see them face-to-face. Having a chance to catch up with your family and enjoy the day on a personal level can help you and your family feel at ease with each other. Although the thought of family day may initially make you feel anxious, the day can benefit you in many ways.

Involve Family in Your Treatment

Perhaps the greatest benefit of family day is the involvement of family members in your treatment. Letting your family see the successes you have had in your treatment, and the setbacks you have overcome can help to rebuild trust with your family members and strengthen your bonds with them. In addition, your family can be an important part of your support system, so they need to be familiar with your treatment.

Make Reparations

If you struggle to get along with your family, or if you feel that various reparations need to be made to move forward with your relationship, this day can seem overwhelming. It may be intimidating to see your family every month if your relationship is spotty. As you may not be excited about family day, there are many opportunities for you to take advantage of during this event.

Using these days to improve your relationship with your family can help alleviate the stress of doing so after completing treatment. As some of these days may lead to stressful interactions, you will each have time to process the interaction before you meet again. Working in small increments to engage in positive interactions can build a level of trust within your relationship and provide positive interactions to build on.

Strengthen Your Support System

Whether your relationship with your family is positive or negative, spending time with them can help to strengthen the support you receive during treatment and recovery. By opening up to them about your progress and showing them around the treatment center, they can better understand the process you are going through and get a better idea of the effort you are making to overcome your substance use disorder (SUD).

By putting effort into family relationships and sharing personal information, many individuals find that the level of support they receive from their family drastically increases. It’s also beneficial to step away from treatment for a day and have fun together as a family. 

Ease Your Family’s Stress

Family day will let your family see your living situation and learn more about the treatment you are receiving. This first-hand knowledge can help them to feel at ease with you being away in treatment. Treatment and recovery are stressful for the individual directly affected by addiction but can also bring up many concerns for other family members. Attending family day can be a good way for them to process and sort out their emotions in a healthy way and develop a positive outlook regarding the person in treatment. 

Family day can also be an amazing opportunity for your parents and family to meet some of the members of your treatment team if they do not directly work with them. Meeting the individuals who are a strong resource for you and developing a relationship with your treatment team can help put your family at ease as well. 

Have Fun!

The most important point to remember about family day is to have fun. No matter what your family situation is, put all stressors aside and have a day full of fun. Having a day that feels separate from your everyday treatment routine can help you to reset and come back with a fresh start. Use this day as an opportunity to celebrate your progress and increase your motivation levels to continue your success.

This can also be a nice day to let go of the focus on your addiction. As your addiction is the main focus throughout treatment, having a day to focus on something else can be mentally refreshing. Enjoy your time with your family and forget about the stressful aspects of treatment. They will all be solved in due time. During family day, relax and enjoy your time.

A family day can be viewed as an exciting or fearful time depending on your current situation; however, regardless of your family relationships, this day can be used to help benefit you and your recovery. If you get along well with your family, the day can be a great way to update them on your progress and enjoy visiting with them. If you don’t have a strong relationship, it could allow you to make reparations and strengthen that relationship. Updating your family and seeing them face-to-face can provide healthy and safe opportunities to begin a new relationship based on a level of trust. Family day is beneficial not only to you but to your family as well. This event can help ease the stress on your family during this time. Make the best of family day and have fun! To learn more, contact Dream Recovery at (949) 732-1960.