Why Family Therapy is Important to the Healing Process

family therapy
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When you participate in an IOP program in Prescott AZ, you’ll spend the bulk of your time in counseling. Family therapy is a type of counseling that involves the whole family. While individual therapy focuses on your thoughts, behaviors and emotions, family therapy aims to bring clarity to your relationships. In doing so, you can strengthen the family unit and foster closeness. 

Wolf Creek Recovery offers family therapy to clients who participate in our Arizona rehab program. Our family therapy sessions run weekly and explore how substance use affects the family unit. Often, substance use is embedded in a cycle of interaction within the family. Let’s learn more about why family therapy is an important part of the healing process. 

It Reduces the Risk for Relapse 

When you have the support of your family, you are less likely to relapse. This happens because your family will be educated on addiction, its causes and its triggers. With this information, they can create a supportive environment that is conducive to healing. Furthermore, your family will know how to support you and which behaviors are unhealthy (i.e., lying, enabling, codependency). They can hold you accountable and prevent you from slipping back into old habits. 

You Can Mend Family Ties 

Addiction is a complex disease with many causes. Even if your relationships were perfect before you started using drugs or alcohol, the addiction likely caused heartache between you and others. Fortunately, you can repair the ties that have been broken in your family. 

Family therapy provides a safe and supportive place where you can talk through issues with your family. You can address past traumas and heal from them, as well as seek forgiveness for the lying, stealing and acting out that might have occurred. It takes time to mend relationships, but the healing can start in family therapy. 

Educate Family Members 

There are many misperceptions that surround addiction. Oftentimes, family members need to be educated on addiction to eliminate inaccurate beliefs about the disease. For example, addiction is not a choice, a weakness or a character flaw. It’s a complex disease that has biological, environmental and social influences. 

During family therapy, your family members will learn about addiction, its causes, its triggers and the various roles that family members take on. They’ll also learn how to heal themselves so that they can be supportive to your recovery. 

Instill Hope and Motivation 

Recovery from addiction is a lifelong process. It’s important that your family is there to lift you up on your bad days. But first, your family needs to believe in the recovery process. Thankfully, family therapy instills hope by preparing family members for the journey ahead. This way, they can give you the support and courage you need to reach your goals. 

Family therapy is an important part of an IOP program in Prescott. As a client at Wolf Creek Recovery, you will participate in family therapy each week. Here, you will work on improving communication, setting healthy boundaries and building trust through role play, family sculpting, psychodrama and more. To learn more about our family therapy program, contact our admissions department today.