A family member is anyone who plays a long-term supportive role in an individual’s life, regardless if they are blood related or share the same household. A healthy family system is integral to good mental health and general well being for everyone involved. When an immediate family member is struggling with a medical condition, mental health issues, and/or addiction, therapy can help to support and stabilize the family system in the midst of the turmoil.
The Effect on Families
Mental illness and substance abuse do not just affect the patient. At Arahant Mental Wellness, we approach treatment of these biological illnesses with the patient AND their families in mind. Family members experience tremendous pain and suffering as they witness and are affected by the patient’s illness. Family members have to deal with the frustration and fears of not knowing why the individual they know and love is acting so differently. They want to help but don’t know where to begin or how best to. They want to help but they are angry, hurt, and scared. They want to help but feel estranged, exhausted, and hopeless.
You don’t have to do this alone. Let us take those first crucial steps with you towards healing and hope so that you are in a better position to join your loved one’s journey of recovery in a positive and meaningful way.
FAMILY THERAPY
At Arahant, we integrate family therapy into the work that we do with our patients because we understand the important role that families play in recovery AND how families are affected by their loved one’s illness. The way the family operates influences how the patient’s problems formed and how they are encouraged or enabled by the other members of the family. We can help to reduce distress and conflict by improving the systems of communication and interactions between family members, as opposed to viewing the problems as residing solely in the client. We employ strategies and exercises like cognitive behavioral therapy, interpersonal therapy, and other types of individual therapy, depending on the specific problems presented.
Family Involvement
Families are a core part of most treatment regimens at Arahant. They will be asked to participate in therapy sessions. In addition to communication skills training, we help families establish and maintain healthy boundaries, teach effective strategies for resolving conflict, and encourage healthy family rituals. By understanding how their illness is affecting their loved ones, the patient may finally find the motivation to face their condition head on. When family members acknowledge their role in the affliction, we have cleared a path toward healing.
Mental illness and substance abuse issues affect everyone around the patient including loved ones, friends, coworkers, neighbors and the community as a whole. It takes a community working together to solve these problems. Arahant Mental Wellness is proud to be part of your community and our experienced clinicians are here to help.
Please reach out to discuss your family’s issue and lean on us in desperate times. There is hope.
– S.S.
“I feel the Parks have a special way of treating patients that I am not used to. I have made significant progress since starting. I feel they really care and are willing to think outside of the box to help someone. I wish more providers were like them. I think more people would get better.”