Support For Families Impacted By Addiction

I had an experience yesterday that really got me thinking.

About drug treatment.

And what it’s like for families who have a loved one in treatment.

More specifically, about how challenging drug treatment can be and how hard it can be for families who get left in the dark about what’s even going on in treatment—which leaves them confused about their role in providing effective support for their loved one.

Now technically, this was nothing new for me. My sole purpose for the past ten years with RehabWorks is to address the problem of family involvement in treatment and create solutions for better engagement and improving treatment outcomes as a result.

But a conversation I had yesterday with the mother of an adult daughter who is struggling with addiction left me feeling compelled to share this and spread the message that help is available for the many parents who find themselves in the same position as the mother in this conversation.

Her daughter is currently a resident in a sober living home. As mentioned, the daughter is struggling with her recovery and so the sober living program suggested the mother contact me for some additional support.

It turns out that none of the substance use treatment the daughter has received over the years has ever included any family programming, thus the mother has been very much out of the loop with regard to treatment and recovery-related issues. When we spoke the mother was feeling overwhelmed and distraught.

As I told her about my RehabWorks program that includes individual coaching sessions, online education, strategies for setting boundaries, tools for measuring treatment progress, and group support with other families who have been right where she is now, I could hear the relief come over her as she said, “Yes, that sounds like exactly what I need!”

I sent her registration paperwork and we’re starting today on learning what she can be doing to provide the most effective recovery support for her daughter and how to respond to current circumstances at the sober living home.

The beauty of this is that it’s a win-win situation. Not only will the mother gain relief and begin to take back control of her own life, in the big picture it’s one of the best things she can be doing with regard to giving her daughter the best chance possible for treatment success.

Now—some straight talk about where I’m coming from in sharing this.

I’m obviously telling you about a service that I offer. And I’m probably not the only one who suffers from the syndrome of feeling uncomfortable promoting their services for fear of coming across as slimy. But what happens with that is people end up not knowing about available services that could make a big difference in their lives.

So here's the deal. I was listening to a podcast a while back where a guy was talking about this very thing, and he was making the point that we should approach "selling" as “serving.” And he gave several examples of individuals whose lives had been changed as a result of purchasing some type of course, training, or other type of service. The point was clear that none of the good things that happened for these folks would have happened had the provider given in to the fear of coming across a "sales-y" and not promoted their service. 

So it is in the spirit of “selling is service” that I want to let you know about what I do as a far providing support for families affected by addiction. Because I know there are many parents out there who are in very similar situations as the mother is in this case—regardless of whether their loved one was just admitted to residential treatment, is in IOP, or have completed treatment and are in a post-treatment phase of care.

But here's the unfortunate truth about drug treatment: Even for facilities that offer stellar family programs—and under the best of circumstances—family engagement in treatment is typically less than ideal. These days, with programs having to cancel in-person Intensive Family Weeks and limit family engagement to Zoom calls, the problem is only compounded.

So I just want to let folks know about a service I offer called the RehabWorks Family Success Package. It's a convenient solution to improving family support during a client’s substance use disorder treatment.

I felt really good when I hung up the phone yesterday about being able to provide a service that gave this mother hope and quite possibly will make all the difference in the world for her, her daughter, and even her daughter’s children—as a result of the steps the mother is taking now.

I would ask you to keep this in mind, and if you know someone who might benefit from this type of support please pass on this information:

RehabWorks Family Success Package