Families...everyone has one.
We’ve been led to believe that the perfect family is happy, stable, and living the dream. The reality is that every family is dysfunctional. They all deal with struggles. Those struggles may not be visible from the outside but all families have their ups and downs. One of the biggest struggles in many families is substance abuse and mental health. These types of struggles can cause immense amounts of pain and suffering to the entire family.
Family members become confrontational with those who they believe are not traveling the right path for good reason. They care!
Still, confrontation creates friction and friction creates stress. Stress leads to more confrontation and friction and the cycle will continue.
Family members that suffer from mental health and substance abuse can often be blamed as the cause of the destruction or dismantling of families. We need to remember that substance use and mental health problems are illnesses that we cannot see. The person who is sick is being blamed.
How do we avoid the complete unraveling of a family when a family member is suffering from substance use or mental health problems?
The best thing to do is learn to live your best life while encouraging healthy behaviors from the Identified Patient.
What is an identified patient? Your loved one...the one that struggles with substance abuse or mental health problems and resists entering treatment.
STOP the confrontations! The CRAFT program helps you learn to modify your behavior toward the IP and engage them in positively reinforcing practices that move them toward recovery.
CRAFT helps you learn new skills that help you cope with past problems and engage your IP in a new approach that increases their sobriety. If the old way hasn’t worked, maybe it’s time to try a “new pathway.” Learn to live your best life with self care. Focus on yourself so you can allow yourself to live in YOUR life, in YOUR moments and not constantly concerning yourself with the health, safety and well-being of your loved one that is an identified patient.
Behind every seemingly perfect family, there's a mess you can’t see. You're not alone but there is help. If you would like to learn more about how CRAFT can help contact us at 970-526-6578 and ask for Ashley!