Family therapy is an important resource to utilize during the recovery process. This form of therapy may be intimidating for you or your family members, especially if there is a build-up of tension within the relationship. However, it can be an invaluable resource. Understanding how family therapy works and the potential benefits it can bring can help you feel comfortable going into this process.
What Is Family Therapy?
This therapeutic process focuses on the structure of the family unit. The family is a system made up of many different parts. How this system functions can impact the stresses you experience through recovery. It can also impact the stresses your family experiences as they watch you go through this process.
Family therapy can help you understand how each individual interacts within the family structure. This knowledge can help you and your therapist pinpoint potential family triggers and find healthy ways of relating. It can also make you more aware of what factors you need to pay attention to as you go through recovery. This way, you can understand how to decrease stress for you and your family.
Addressing the unhealthy patterns that your family tends to engage in helps you in recovery. Additionally, it can benefit the other members of your family. To change the family structure and create a positive atmosphere, each family member must understand how they can better themselves. Family therapy addresses each individual’s strengths. It helps people understand how to build a new foundation for the family unit from which it can thrive.
Skills Addressed Through Family Therapy
There are certain skills that you may have come across in your other therapeutic sessions. Often, these will be reiterated in family therapy. Mentally preparing to focus on these skills can help alleviate the stress of engaging in additional therapeutic processes.
Communication
Developing communication skills is essential throughout your recovery journey. After all, you will need to communicate your needs and reasons for sobriety moving forward. Communication helps us deal with uncomfortable situations effectively. Many families can feel comfortable enough around their family to allow brutal honesty. While honesty is great, this can often be received negatively.
By working with your family to develop healthy communication strategies in a therapeutic and mediated setting, you can learn how to best address each other. Often, conflicts within the family unit stem from a lack of ability to communicate effectively with one another.
Active Listening
Many families especially struggle with one aspect of communication: listening. Listening is an essential component of good communication skills. Learning to allow other members of your family to express their concerns and emotions without interrupting or making comments is important.
Utilizing family therapy services is a great way to improve the skill of active listening. Your other family members learning this can help you feel heard and get your point across. With therapeutic supervision, conversations can be guided to allow space for each individual to speak.
Benefits of Family Therapy
Engaging in family therapy can provide you with many benefits throughout your recovery journey. Some sessions may not feel particularly impactful. However, the change over time can be exceptional.
The following benefits of family therapy can help you further your sobriety success.
Increased Family Support
Depending on your current relationship with your family members, you may feel that there is a lack of support from your family unit regarding your recovery. Even if your family does support you, you may feel that they don’t fully understand what you are going through. Family therapy can help you address these concerns. It can also help you build a structure of support within your family unit.
At Dream Recovery, we believe that family is a very important part of the recovery process. By working through issues within the family unit, you can establish a supportive relationship with your family members. This can benefit your long-term recovery by providing you with an external support system after you leave treatment. It is never a bad idea to secure an extra form of support. After all, you never know when you will need it.
Reduced Stress
You may find that you have experienced high levels of stress from family conflict. As you work to resolve conflict within your family unit, you may begin to notice your levels of stress decrease.
This can be extremely beneficial in the recovery process. Stress is, after all, one of the leading factors for substance use. Taking away this extra level of stress may be enough to help you avoid using substances and falling into a state of relapse.
Improved Recovery Involvement
If your family is not as engaged in the recovery process as you would hope, family therapy may lead you to a solution. As each family member engages in therapeutic sessions and better understands the journey of recovery, they often begin to become more involved with the process.
After a few sessions, you may feel motivated to invite your loved ones to family day and allow them to discover more about your everyday life in recovery and learn more about the programs you are involved in.
During the recovery process, you may be utilizing individual therapeutic services. While focusing on your needs is essential, it is also useful to address tension within your family dynamic. Family therapy is one resource that can provide many benefits to you in your recovery journey. You can overcome relational obstacles by working with a therapist and discussing any underlying conflicts within the family dynamic. Family therapy can provide many benefits, such as long-term support and strengthened relationships. Involving your family in the recovery process is highly recommended. To learn more about our family therapy services and how they can benefit you, reach out to Dream Recovery today by calling (657) 216-7218.