When a loved one decides to face their addiction and begins to do the work, you may wonder what role you can or should play in their recovery. This is especially true if your relationship was fractured during their active addiction. While you have to continue to hold your own boundaries and care for yourself, you may also seek to support your loved one in their recovery. The importance of a support system in recovery cannot be underestimated. The good news is that you don’t have to be your loved one’s entire support system. In fact, you should not. Instead, you can help your loved one identify strategies for creating their support system. At Thrive Treatment, we understand the challenges of supporting a loved one in recovery.
Why Do Recovering Addicts Need a Support System?
Addiction is a disease of isolation and many believe that the opposite of addiction is connection. When someone is active in their addiction, their entire life begins to revolve around using drugs and alcohol. All of their activities become focused on procuring and using. The focus on using takes away their focus from everything else and the early days of sobriety can feel just as lonely as the final days in active addiction. While in treatment and/or attending peer support groups, people in recovery begin to create a network of others who are traveling the same road. The importance of this support system is that it decreases the sense of isolation that can occur in early recovery. Being successful in sobriety involves changing everything. When someone gives up using drugs and alcohol, they usually give up their friends, the places they go, and the things that they normally do. Recovery means creating a whole new life. Making connections in that new life is critical.
Tips to Help Your Loved One’s Addiction Recovery
While it is important for your loved one to take responsibility for their recovery, your support can help them to do so. One of the best ways to provide support to your loved one is to ask what they need. Their needs may be as simple as rides to and from treatment sessions or peer support groups. Perhaps they will need help locating treatment or recovery groups to attend. At the same time, they may need you to attend group or family counseling sessions with them as they work through their treatment. One of the most significant ways that you can support a loved one in recovery is to attend groups such as Al-Anon where you can meet other people who have experience loving someone who has struggled with addiction. Having a family member who has been fighting addiction can be just as isolating for you as the addiction was for your loved one. While others are bragging about the successes of their family members, you may have been silently suffering from the pain of a loved one’s addiction. Attending peer support groups such as Al-Anon can help you to build a support network for yourself.
Get Help Today With Addiction at Thrive Treatment
At Thrive Treatment, we blend different modalities of treatment to help your loved ones succeed in sobriety. We integrate relational and behavioral therapies, along with holistic, medical, and psychiatric interventions, to put them on the path to sobriety, emotional health, and overall well-being. If your loved one is struggling with addiction, we’re here to help. Located in beautiful Santa Monica, we can provide them with an individualized plan that blends modern and traditional practices. Contact us today and let us help your loved one find the way to long-term recovery.
