Family therapy uses the strength of social and emotional support within the family of the drug user to help the individual learn to live without drug use. Skills are taught to the family on how to cope with stress, deal with unemployment, depression, abuse, and family conflict. Often, this type of therapy is compared to education because it involves teaching family members skills while answering any questions family members may have about drug addiction.
Part of family therapy is Family Behavior Therapy (FBT) in which behavioral contracting is combined with contingency management. This type of therapy addresses multiple levels of family issues of depression, substance abuse, mistreatment and other aspects. The general rule is that the patient should attend counseling sessions with at least one significant other, which could be a spouse, relative, or close friend. Adolescents can also seek help in family therapy by bringing their parents. The therapist sets behavior goals for the family, whether it be substance abusing parents or a substance abusing adolescent, that teach them ways to prevent future drug use.
Behavioral goals are reviewed during each session and loved ones are instructed to provide the patient with rewards for any behaviors that comply with abstinence and treatment. This process works by using positive reinforcement, an aspect of operant conditioning in psychology, to reinforce or increase the behavior of the drug user to stop using drugs. Evidence-based treatment options are provided to the patient and family for them to choose which treatment plans they wish to pursue. They hopefully go out and practice what was discussed in the treatment plan and come back to their next session with the results, after which, adjustments are made if needed.
In these sessions, the therapist normally discusses family roles to inform members of what is expected of them to have a healthy family unit. Learning what helps and what makes things worse is also discussed in order to prevent conflicts from occurring. Ways to build trust with communication are provided along with skills for showing respect. All of these assets work together to make the family a stronger support network for the individual struggling with substance abuse.
Benefits of Family Therapy
- Understanding of addiction
- Awareness of family interactions
- Improved communication skills
- Renewed trust
- Increased sharing of feelings
- Setting boundaries – how to avoid enabling
There are various types of family therapy that can be used. Behavioral contracting is when the therapist helps the family write up a contract for living a drug-free home and skills for preventing relapse triggers are given. Behavioral marital therapy focuses on coping, communication, and relapse prevention skills. Multidimensional family therapy is used for adolescents and teaches coping skills for the adolescent and parenting skills of the parents.
Solution-focused therapy lets the family present problems to the therapist after which the therapist aids in coming up with solutions while explaining what a drug-free family could look like. This gives the family a good idea of the benefits of a drug-free home and motivates them to work together to achieve that vision. Lastly, multifamily groups are group sessions with families as a way of showing each other that they are not the only ones struggling with substance abuse.
Asana Recovery offers group therapy and aids in family recovery from substance abuse. They offer a supportive network of professionals who are trained to handle various types of drug and alcohol addiction. Call (949) 438-4504 to learn more about their treatment programs.
