How to Know Which Therapy Is Right for Your Family?

This treatment may be for substance use disorder (SUD), mental health disorders, or both. Ongoing recovery can be negatively impacted by unaddressed issues in family dynamics, home environment, or personal relationships. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), “Research shows that family support can play a major role in helping a loved one with mental and substance use disorders.” Rehabilitation facilities like Vanity Wellness offer a wide range of treatment options for families in recovery to increase the effectiveness of individual treatment and therapy.

The Importance of Family Therapy During Recovery

Family involvement and support are essential during recovery, and family therapy often plays an important role. Every family member must learn to process issues and traumas related to substance misuse. Successfully working together makes it easier to achieve a balanced home environment. You and your loved ones can attend family-focused therapies to help you move forward and continue healing. Together, you can create a healthy home where everyone feels valued and heard.

Family therapy is introduced later in the rehabilitation process or during aftercare. Usually, individual sessions are combined with family therapy to help the person in recovery to repair or strengthen their closest relationships. If all family members work together to resolve issues they face, the therapy process can provide the following:

• Promote clear and honest communication between family members
• Aid in relapse prevention
• Establish healthy boundaries
• Encourage empathy and compassion
• Provide healthy conflict resolution
• Enhance problem-solving skills

Families that work together to form a cohesive unit are less likely to be adversely affected by the challenges of recovery. Rehabilitation facilities like Vanity Wellness Center provide a solid foundation of coping skills and resources that you can use and continue to work on during ongoing recovery.

Who Can Participate in Family Therapy?

Anyone close to you, and who is integral to your life, can participate in family therapy. According to SAMHSA, “’Family‘ means a group of two or more people with close and enduring emotional ties.” Family means something different to everyone, and this term can apply to many different dynamics. You can invite anyone who has been integral to your recovery to attend family therapy. Often this type of therapy is short-term, lasting only a few weeks to several months, but this depends on your family dynamic. For example, highly dysfunctional families might need to attend therapy for longer periods of time.

Common Family-Focused Treatment Options

Vanity Wellness Center offers multiple family-focused therapies and services. We believe that people are stronger when they have the support of their loved ones.

#1. Internal Family Systems

Internal family systems (IFS) therapy is a valuable tool during outpatient treatment. IFS helps families recognize and correct unhealthy family dynamics by doing the following:

• Improving communication
• Revealing power imbalances
• Correcting maladaptive behaviors and thought patterns

#2. Family Systems

Family system theory (FST) treats every family as a single cohesive unit where the choices and behaviors of all family members affect each other in significant ways. FST provides insight and a path forward for families struggling to overcome the traumas related to SUD and mental health disorders.

Common issues addressed in FST sessions include:

• Parental problems projected onto children
• Emotional isolation between family members
• Physical distancing between family members
• Toxic dynamics
• Co-dependency

#3. Multi-Family Therapy

According to the International Journal of Group Psychotherapy, “Multifamily group treatment (MFGT) is an evidence-based intervention for treating persons with severe mental illness,” and “participants who . . . received MFGT showed a reduction in negative symptoms and inpatient service.” Families in recovery benefit from MFGT in the following ways:

• Stronger family bonds
• Improved communication
• Reduced risk of relapse
• Less severe symptoms
• Improved problem-solving skills

MFGT uses aspects of psychotherapy and cognitive-behavioral therapy to ensure every family member’s mental and emotional well-being.

#4. Couples Therapy

Couples therapy can bring you and your significant other closer together during treatment and recovery. Any pain or emotional damage you may have caused before you sought help needs to be addressed, usually under the guidance of a trained professional. You can benefit from couples therapy by learning more about conflict resolution and better verbal and nonverbal communication.

The Healing Benefits of Family Therapy

Family therapy encourages each family member to effectively communicate, work together, and problem-solve to overcome challenges related to recovery. Family members can discuss complex issues under the guidance of a trained therapist. Some additional benefits include:

• An impartial perspective on recovery and the effects of addiction
• Assistance in navigating changes in family dynamics
• Communication and skill development

Recovery looks different for every family, and therapy provides the necessary tools to work through issues and repair relationships that have been harmed by the effects of substance misuse or untreated mental health disorders.