Our Family Program
Help for Families
Addiction is a family disease. The best outcomes happen when the family embraces their own recovery while their loved one is simultaneously getting treatment for their addiction. At GraceWay, we provide long-term recovery support services for your loved one, while also providing education, support, and counseling for you to aid in your own recovery.
The most prevalent myth surrounding addiction is that it only affects the addicted individual. The National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence describes addiction as “a family disease that stresses the family to the breaking point, impacts the stability of the home, the family’s unity, mental health, physical healthy, finances, and overall family dynamics.” The family as a whole is affected by addiction, which is why it is necessary for the entire family to take an active role in the recovery process.
Addiction: The Family Disease
The family has to watch as addiction takes hold of their loved one, deteriorating them into a person who is no longer recognizable. This painful, and often maddening transition manifests as financial struggles, deteriorating relationships, job loss, arrests, and declining physical, mental, social, and spiritual health.
As addiction consumes the your loved one, you in turn become consumed with your own unhealthy behaviors which revolve around your loved one. This unhealthy enmeshment becomes a pattern and families often get trapped in the cycle of repeating behaviors meant to help, but often are just enabling the disease. This can look like obsession with your loved one (have they eaten, am I going to get a call they are in jail-or worst-dead, how will they pay their bills, will they lose their job, are they taking care of themself, etc.), enabling, unhealthy boundaries (accepting unacceptable behavior), control, guilt, poor self-care, and getting caught in the web of wishful thinking.
We know that everything you have done you have done out of love, and if love could eradicate this disease then professionals would not be needed. Unfortunately, this disease uses a families love against them in the most insidious of ways. It’s not your fault that your loved one has this illness, and it’s not your fault that everything you have tried to do to help your loved one hasn’t ever seemed to be enough. This is an illness that requires treatment and a team of professionals. However, it is vital that you take an active role in the recovery process to get accurately educated on the disease and recovery, gain support, and deprogram unhealthy behavior patterns. By taking this role, seeking personal wellness, it will positively impact your loved one.
At GraceWay, we understand how vital it is to get families started in their own personal journey to recovery. No time is wasted, and families start this journey during their loved ones intake process. You will be given a family packet and family workbook to take back home with you that provides clear instructions on how to begin your own recovery. Years of experience has shown us that families carry around their own pain and equal amounts of guilt, and in order for your family to get well and survive, it is critical that you do your own recovery work as well.
What Services are Offered to Families?
Individual Support
Our family counselor will meet with you to assess your need and desire for ongoing support. Within the first 2 weeks, you are encouraged to complete the family questionnaire, begin work in the family workbook, and start attending Al-Anon meetings in their area.
Family Support Sessions
Within the first 30 days, and after we have received the completed family packet, our counselor will call to schedule the first zoom or in person session. These sessions are to provide support, counseling, and education to you.
Family Workshop
Our intensive two-day family workshop is offered every 8 weeks and loved ones are encouraged to attend. When the time is deemed appropriate, approved family members will be sent an invitation to the workshop. In preparation for this day, families are required to have attended at least 6 Al-Anon meetings and have been actively working with our family counselor.
Questions Surrounding Your Loved Ones Personal Accounts, Mail, and Phone Calls
Personal Accounts (Click Here)
We do our best to encompass an all-inclusive monthly program fee, however, there are some items that your loved one may need to purchase while at GraceWay. Examples include cigarettes or vape products, contact solution, medication refills (if they are already on a medication upon intake; we do not prescribe medications) are some common examples. We recommend $200/month. These funds will be kept in a locked account so that staff can purchase items needed for your loved one.
Phone Calls, Mail, and Packages (Click Here)
Residents do no have phone privilege until after the first 30 days. During this time, your loved one will sign a phone call contract and seek approval from their community and their counselor. She will also be able to send and receive mail from approved individuals after the initial 30 day period. This is standard practice at quality treatment facilities and is put in place for numerous reasons.
Before sending your loved one any packages, please call us and speak to one of the counselors first to confirm that the package meets the appropriate guidelines. It is not our wish to divest your loved one of anything, however, part of the therapeutic process is learning how to find gratitude for what they have. Your loved one will be provided with everything that she needs while in our care, and if there is something that she needs that we can’t provide, you will be notified. She will learn how to live within the boundaries set and we will always put her well-being first.
Therapeutic Leave Requests (Click Here)
Your loved one will become eligible to a therapeutic leave (TL) after 90 days if she chooses to transition into The Way Sober Living Apartments. The process begins with your loved one submitting a TL request to her counselor for community and staff approval. Approved families will have actively participated in the recovery process. We strongly advise families against making any concrete plans until the TL request has been approved and families have been notified by staff. If a TL request is denied it does not necessarily mean that your loved one is not making progress, they can be denied for numerous reasons, including family instability or by not submitting a sufficient plan. Our family counselor will be available to discuss an upcoming TL with you, as well as to debrief after a TL.
Listen to our podcast on how family recovery can benefit you.
