Families’ Biggest Questions in Early Recovery Answered by FB Live Panel

Does Rehab Cure Addiction? And Other Hot Topics for Families in Recovery

Thursday’s conversation tackled some of the most burning issues and concerns related to family, friendships and relationships in recovery:

• What are families’ biggest support needs when dealing with a loved one’s addiction?
• How should they understand and refer to their loved one’s condition?
• Should they expect their loved one to be cured after treatment— or, is there truth to the saying, “once an addict, always an addict,” and if so, in what way?
• What resources are available to families and loved ones in recovery for building greater community and strengthening their relationships?

Encouraging Wellness for Families in Recovery

Two guest panelists weighed in with their reflections, taking questions from our live audience and facilitator Micah Robbins (who directs special projects for the Palm Beach County Substance Awareness Coalition):

• Morgan Chase is Director of Memberships for Namastay Sober, a Massachusetts-based charity whose mission is to “empower recovering addicts to live a life they love.” One way that Chase is helping to fulfill that mission is by sharing the gift of yoga, to which she attributes much of her own recovery from addiction. Today she is a full-time yoga teacher, teaching 17-plus classes weekly in an effort to “create community around wellness,” in her own words.

“Our body is our only place we have to live, so we need to take care of it,” she said. “I try to get yoga into as many recovery settings as possible.”

In addition to yoga and other fun outlets for exercise and community building, Namastay Sober hosts a bi-monthly community conversation for people in recovery and their loved ones. The goal is to introduce families to fun forms of exercise (like yoga) that support their loved one’s recovery, so that families can in turn support their loved one’s path to recovery through greater awareness and involvement.

• Robert Lovett co-runs Beach House’s Family Wellness Program, which provides an additional layer of support and education to families of Beach House clients who desire it. (Learn more about our Family Program.) Having a sister in recovery has given Lovett an intimate understanding of what many of the families he serves are going through, so that he is better able to convey to them that they are not alone and that many others have been through similar struggles.

Family members typically enter the Wellness Program with basically “a two-part question,” according to Lovett: “what did I do wrong, and how do I fix this?” Lovett’s job is to encourage them to do what is in their power to move forward in recovery, because “the only things you can control are your own actions and attitude.” Family therapy can be an essential part of this journey, helping families work together to understand and address underlying issues in a supportive, structured way.

Hear Chase and Lovett share their answers to the above questions, by tuning in to the unabridged video recording of the conversation.

For more about the role of family and relationships in recovery, check out these related articles in our Learning Center:

• “Why Addiction Is a Family Disease”
• “Living with a Recovering Alcoholic – Tips for Family Members and Loved Ones”
• “Family Dynamics of Addiction and Life After Rehab”
• “How Family Therapy Can Boost Long-Term Recovery”
• “How Family Involvement Improves Recovery From a Dual Diagnosis”