After Alcohol Rehab — Family Support or Sabotage?

“When I come home from rehab, what if my family is still drinking?” This is a very good, and very important question. Many alcoholics get treatment for the disease of alcoholism and then return to the same environment right after rehab. If there is no change in the family home, relapse back into alcoholism can happen easily. It is no surprise that many people relapse back into their addiction when they go back to the same home environment, with the same people, and do the same things.

This is often where they got sick in the first place. When one person in the family goes to rehab and gets help, they are experiencing a lot of positive change and growth. This growth and change is very fragile. If the family back home does not begin their own program of recovery and know how to be supportive, they will probably continue enabling behaviors. These unconscious behaviors may entice the alcoholic to drink again. Find out more about relapse and how to prevent it.

Alcoholism is a family disease. The whole family may become invested in drinking behaviors. But, recovery can also be a family process, and that can begin with the one person who goes to rehab and begins the journey of recovery.

Family Roles in Alcoholic Homes

Sometimes the family may subconsciously want the person home from drug rehab to drink again. One person getting clean and sober upsets the family dynamic. Changing roles in a family is often met with great resistance. Learn more about family roles by clicking here.

Surprisingly, the family may even try to push alcohol or other drugs on the person trying to recover! Other times, the sabotage is much more subtle, and the family doesn’t realize what they are doing. In fact, the family would deny vehemently that they want their loved one to fail. They are just acting and reacting the way they always have. It may be picking a fight. It may be shaming a newcomer to recovery for choosing a meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous rather than a family function.

Without understanding and education, alcoholism family support may be missing completely. There are many ways that the home may not be safe for a person coming back from drug rehab.

The Alcoholic Returning Home

Going to a treatment center for a full 90 day program is the best way to solidify new recovery behaviors and establish important support systems at home before returning. It also gives the recovering person a lot of time to recognize the toxic behaviors in the family and their part in the dynamic.

Shorter stints in rehab may not give them the opportunity to see this and to learn new behaviors such as establishing healthy boundaries. Going to a 3 month treatment facility for addiction is a great idea. It gives ample opportunity for the recovering addict to make different plans for when rehab is over.

Setting up the structure for a new life of sobriety may include a sober living house. It will include a sponsor and a new network of clean and sober friends in a self help 12 Step program. Connecting with a temporary sponsor in the home community before leaving rehab and setting up that first appointment with a good addictions counselor or therapist is a great idea. Setting intentions and making plans for continued holistic activities such as yoga, massage, gym, or Tai Chi, before leaving rehab can make a world of difference. Click here to learn more about yoga in recovery.

Preparing Your Alcoholism Family Support Plan While Still in Rehab

If a person is attending a 28 day rehab program, there is barely time for the fog to clear, much less make those all important plans for the next phase of recovery. A longer treatment of 45 to 90 days helps establish healthy sobriety with a plan for sustaining and growing that recovery back home.

If you are the one going home, remember that alcoholism is a family disease; don’t let your family drag you back into the abyss of addiction. Know your options, and make decisions before you get on the plane to get home. A good treatment facility will help you with your plan and establish all the supports you need for continued success in recovery, your new design for living.