Benefits of Local Rehabilitation Centers to Families in Recovery

Drug addiction does not just hurt the individual. Families also experience a great deal of pain, frustration, and suffering as a result of their loved one becoming addicted to drugs. Divorce occurs, children are hurt, parents can feel responsible and blame themselves. But there are many treatment options which are actually more beneficial to patients as well as their families when drug addiction occurs.

Local rehabilitation centers can be extremely helpful to both the patients and their family members. When a person works through addiction, everyone can feel like they are in recovery, trying to regain their trust in one another and their happiness. There are many benefits of local rehabilitation centers to families in recovery.

Visitation

Especially if a patient chooses or needs to attend treatment at an inpatient center, it can be incredibly difficult for them to be away from their loved ones. Visitation at an inpatient center makes it easy for friends and family members to still be able to see patients and remind them of why they decided to attend rehab in the first place. It lifts the spirits of the patient and gives them a reason to keep fighting.

For the family members, visitation can also be incredibly helpful as well. Visitors of patients in inpatient drug rehab are able to

• See how far their loved one has come in treatment
• Feel connected to their loved one and what they are going through, even if they cannot always be with them
• Give and receive encouragement from the patient, helping them remember as well that this was a good choice and will benefit all parties
• See the facility itself and the patient’s place in it so that they do not feel too isolated from their loved one’s experience in the treatment center

If a patient were to choose a facility that was farther away, it would be much more difficult for family members to visit and be able to give and receive all the benefits that come with this act. Visitation is much easier when the patient stays local.

Family Therapy

Local rehabilitation centers offer family therapy.

One of the most overall beneficial reasons for an individual to attend treatment in a local rehabilitation center is that many facilities offer family therapy as well as individual and group therapy. Family therapy, for those who use it, can help patients and their family members work out the issues they have been struggling with as a result of drug addiction with a counselor.

According to the NIDA, “Multidimensional family therapy, which was developed for adolescents with drug abuse problems––as well as their families––addresses a range of influences on their drug abuse patterns and is designed to improve overall family functioning.” This type of treatment can even be used for families who are not dealing with adolescent addiction problems and can still be very helpful as well. Anyone who needs family therapy treatment can often find it at many rehab facilities, especially inpatient-based centers.

Proximity is also a factor in being able to attend family therapy. Patients who choose a facility that is too far away will not be able to expect their family members to be able to attend regular sessions. While this may be preferable to the patient, family members need to be able to talk through their feelings as well, sometimes directly to their loved ones. And being able to attend therapy treatment with a licensed counselor or psychiatrist can be so much more effective and likely to be successful than a general conversation at home.

Better for Children

There are many ways that a patient attending a local rehab center is better for the children of the patient. Children of drug addicts usually understand that something is wrong and can sometimes become very scared of or angry with their parents as result of this drug abuse. According to the NIH, “If someone at home is dealing drugs or doing other crimes, it’s also dangerous for the kids, and the adults could end up in prison.”

Still, children will often be glad to see their parents able to work on their addictions and get better. It may take time, but they can sometimes come to forgive their parents for the issues they caused. Local rehabilitation centers allow patients to work through their addictions while still strengthening their relationships with their children in many ways, including:

• Having regular visitations or, if they are attending a local outpatient rehabilitation center, they can be home with their children every night while still working on their recoveries
• Attending therapy with their children or even sometimes being able to set up individualized therapy sessions for their children with someone at the rehab center
• In some cases, young mothers who need inpatient addiction treatment but who cannot or do not want to leave their children behind are able to attend rehabilitation with their children. Some fathers are able to do so too.
  • According to a study on these facilities from the NCBI, “Over a span of 6 months or more, these families progress from a period of intense treatment and family reunification to a period of increased independence in which the parents undertake vocational training or employment, accept increasing parenting responsibility, and prepare for supported reintegration into the community.”

All of these benefits are more likely to be achieved (and treatments more likely to be accepted) if the patient finds a local facility where their family can visit easily or, in the case of families who stay at the facility, be moved there more easily as well.

The Cost

It may seem like the wrong time to consider the issue of cost, but it is absolutely the right time to do so. The NIH states, “Drug abuse can use up the family’s money and make parents unable to work and earn money.” In many cases, drug addicted individuals get themselves and their loved ones into debt abusing drugs. By staying close to home, the cost will usually be much less than organizing travel costs, living arrangements, and anything else.

Local rehabilitation centers can be just as beneficial to families as they are to patients. And after some time in treatment, you will begin to feel that your loved one is on their way back to you.