February 2021

There are various options for addiction treatment available to individuals and families affected by parental alcoholism. Treatment programs can include inpatient and outpatient rehab, detoxification, counseling, and medication-assisted therapy. Depending alcoholic parents effects on child on your specific needs and circumstances, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration can provide resources and information to help you find the most appropriate treatment option for you or your loved one.

This review will be the first to examine all forms of family-focused practices for both substance use and problem gambling treatment for adults. It will provide information about existing service provisions and gaps in practice. This review can be used to start moving towards the development of best practices for families in addiction treatment. The results family support in addiction recovery will be disseminated through a peer-reviewed journal and at mental health and addiction conferences.

The Family’s Role in Addiction and Recovery

• Family involvement not only strengthens the recovery journey but also fosters a sense of connection, understanding, and resilience.
• Since adolescents are still developing social and behavioral patterns, early substance abuse can complicate future events.
• The field would benefit from additional research on CRAFT and other professional approaches for addressing stress and coping mechanisms, behavioral health problems, and general wellness among family members affected by youth SUD.
• Prominent gaps and barriers to involving families in youth SUD services exist at multiple levels.
• Family support plays a crucial role in the addiction recovery journey, offering a foundation of love, understanding, and encouragement for individuals seeking to overcome substance abuse.

Having a substance use disorder and starting recovery might feel isolating, which may affect your relationships with family and friends. Addiction researchers suggest three main types of support that family members can provide to help their loved ones reach and maintain recovery from addiction. Focusing on these efforts can maximize family members’ ability to help their loved one.

A Parallel Recovery: Families Healing From Addiction

It permits family members to join “on the spot” for parts of tele-sessions, alleviating time and commuting burdens. As a caution, providers should take stock of functional limitations in telehealth options for those families with unreliable access to required technology platforms. In the past decade several literature reviews and meta-analytic studies have emphasized the top-shelf effectiveness of family-based treatment for SUD across the lifespan. Family-based treatment addresses family skills (e.g., communication, coping, problem-solving), family relationships and processes, and family member relations with key extrafamilial persons and systems (Hogue et al., in press). Hogue and colleagues (2018) concluded in a systematic literature review that family therapy is a well-established outpatient approach for adolescent SU that has accumulated the largest evidence base compared to all other approaches.

How Addiction Affects Families of Addicts

• Families learn how to change the way they communicate and to make sober behaviors more rewarding.
• In the Active Treatment phase, providers complete clinical needs assessments with enrolled clients and proceed as indicated with treatment planning and intervention delivery.
• These sessions provide a safe space for family members to express their feelings and work towards healing.
• There are two monthly virtual meetings (1st and 3rd Tuesday of each month) to create a space where family members can have a learning collaboration with each other.
• In the Problem Identification phase, youth are identified as having serious SU and/or SU-related problems that warrant consideration for treatment.

It can be difficult to understand the disease of addiction and how it affects the brain. Ultimately though, the physical and chemical effects of addiction on the brain lead to poorer judgment and impulse control. If you’re not sure where to start, making a list of recovery organizations and groups that sound interesting to you might be a useful first step. Whether a 12-step program or a support group is a better fit will depend entirely on your preferences. When it comes to support systems specifically designed for those in recovery, there are several types and options to explore.

• Families can play an essential part in assisting their loved ones by encouraging them to seek treatment, offering emotional support, and directing them to resources and specialists who can help them on their road to recovery.
• It tests the bonds of family, challenges their resilience, and often requires a reevaluation of familial roles and dynamics.
• Joining a recovery support group can help people stay on track in recovery, even when it feels challenging.
• As seen in Figure 1, treatment engagement in youth behavioral services begins with first contact between client and provider, usually termed outreach (Becker et al., 2015).
• Hogue and colleagues (2018) concluded in a systematic literature review that family therapy is a well-established outpatient approach for adolescent SU that has accumulated the largest evidence base compared to all other approaches.

• However, some people may have been encouraged to use substances by the people around them, including friends and family.
• Children living in a home with those with substance abuse disorders manifest a range of negative mental and physical side effects.
• Family support provides crucial elements such as encouragement, motivation, and accountability, which are vital for individuals to overcome the challenges of addiction and achieve lasting sobriety.

This could be due in part to the role of denial as an intrinsic part of addiction, which means loved ones often play a key role in getting people the care they need. Having a solid support network can greatly impact an individual’s capacity to effectively manage the ups and downs of recovery on the sometimes-complicated road to sobriety. Renaissance Recovery views family support as a pillar that offers comprehension, inspiration, and useful help to individuals trying to escape the clutches of addiction and start along a road toward recovery and rejuvenation.

They provide people with a safe place to process their experiences, thoughts, and feelings throughout recovery. Joining a recovery support group can help people stay on track in recovery, even when it feels challenging. SMART Recovery members may attend in-person meetings or participate in online group sessions. This group uses evidence-based behavioral therapies, including cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), to help people make meaningful changes. Family support can help individuals navigate reintegration into society, establish healthy routines, and build a support network outside the immediate family circle, contributing to long-term recovery.