Kimmie's Recovery Zone Family Progam

Kimmie's Recovery Zone Family Program

For: Family and friends of alcoholics and addicts who:

• Have been impacted by the disease.
• Have a difficult time understanding why their loved one behaves the way he/she does.
• Do not understand how addiction is a disease.
• Do not know how to effectively support their loved one.
• Have questions about the effect and impact of addiction.
• Feel hopeless about the future of their loved one.

Many people with loved ones suffering from addiction experience first-hand the impact the disease has over their loved one, as well as their relationships.  The construction of the addiction process is complex and entails genetics, environment, memory, motivation, mental illness, reward, and related brain circuitry.  The family’s overall understanding of this process is crucial for supporting their loved ones through treatment and recovery.

Our experience is that once a family is educated, they can increase the quality of their lives, as well as enhance the addicted person’s chances for success in treatment and recovery.

Goals of the program are to create better pathways to healing.

After identifying the family roles, the family system, and breaking the rules down that have been guiding the path of the family into dysfunction, it becomes easier to shift the family structure for maladaptive toward adaptive. This is a process known as “restructuring.” This is where therapy helps direct change in the family patterns of interaction and into recovery and healing. The techniques most widely used for restructuring are as follows:

1. working in the present – working in the present with interactional processes
2. reframing negativity – creating different perspectives.
3. reversals – coaching the individual members to do the opposite of what they usually would do and break the patterns.
4. working with boundaries and alliances – identifying strengths, and weaknesses in boundaries
5. Detriangulation – separating alliances and developing conflict avoidance.
6. opening up closed systems – conflict resolution
7. tasks & assignments to orchestrate change and develop new skills.