How Can My Family Help Me Make It Through Inpatient Rehab?

If you are considering inpatient rehabilitation for a drug or alcohol addiction, you are probably drawn to all of the benefits it offers—things like round the clock care, intensive therapy, and a drug and alcohol free environment where you feel safe.

What might give you pause is the distance it puts between you and your family. If the rehab center is physically some distance from your loved ones, you may fear that you will feel all alone. Even if the center is close by, you may still feel like living at the center will make you feel isolated.

You don’t need to worry. There are roles for your family and they can participate in inpatient rehab and help you make it through treatment.

If you are concerned about the amount of access your family will have to you while you are in rehab, you need to do some research about the facilities and their positions on family interactions. InpatientDrugRehabCenters.com can help you with your research and can link you to programs that align with your needs. Simply call 800-430-1407Who Answers? to get started.

Who is Considered family?

As the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration notes, there is no single definition of family that applies to all people and all circumstances. So, when you think of family, you aren’t tied to your blood relatives alone. There are, however, some broad categories that you can look to.

Traditional families are the ones most commonly referenced when people say family. These typically include parents: blood relatives, adoptive, step, grandparents who have assumed a parenting role, adoptive, and foster. If you have children, they would be part of your traditional family, as would your partner.

Your family can send you letters while you’re in rehab.

Extended families are relatives outside of your immediate family. These include uncles, aunts, cousins, grandparents, and other similar relatives.

Elected families or intentional families are very important to recovering addicts, who may not have close relationships with blood relatives or those connected via marriage or law. These families are self-identified and connected by choice. Examples include emancipated adolescents who live among their peers, godparents, close friends, members of a community, people bound by certain events, and others considered family.

All that family requires is a permanent bond formed at an emotional level. No matter the distance between them, family members will remain connected emotionally and will play a role in the family dynamic.

General Contact

Each facility will have its own rules regarding family visits and contact. If you need contact with your family to make it through rehab, you will need to make sure that contact is part of the treatment process at the facility and you need to keep in mind that limited contact may actually be good for you. Try to remain open to the idea.

Most treatment centers allow you to receive letters from family regardless of other limitations they may place on contact. Letters can be a great way to feel supported by your family and involved individuals can all write to you.

Phone calls and email are often restricted, as they can trigger urges to use, especially if your brain associates drug use with the person you are contacting or if the interactions is a stressor. But, you may be granted both methods after you have advanced in your treatment.

Family visits are generally part of treatment, but not until you have made progress. Look forward to visits and use them as motivation to make headway.

Your family can support you by remaining in contact via ways encouraged by your treatment center. They should also remain aware of important visiting days.

How to Talk to Your Family About Your Inpatient Rehab Choice

Family Therapy

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, family therapy “is aimed at addressing not only substance use problems but other co-occurring problems as well, such as conduct disorders, child mistreatment, depression, family conflict, and unemployment.”

Family is central to the treatment of health problems in general, and this means that family work is a vital component of many treatment programs. Family therapy will ask for your family to remain open and flexible and they will need to engage in mutual understanding.

By doing so, your family can help you make it through therapy and acquire important skills. But, they can also help themselves learn new skills and improve the overall functioning of your family unit.

If you think that you are ready for inpatient treatment and the benefits it offers, call 800-430-1407Who Answers? today.