Chats With Charles – Family Programs
In this week’s Chats With Charles, we hear about the family during active addiction and alcoholism. This can become the family being part of the recovery process. Dilworth Center facilitates families recovering together.
Here’s the transcript of the video!
Well hey, I’d like to welcome everybody here. This is the Chats With Charles section, and you know it’s my pleasure to be here. I enjoy this, and I like to be able to talk to you all about things that I feel are of importance when it comes to experiencing treatment.
You know, one of the things I was talking about or thinking about this morning was when I was in my own active addiction. I think many of you know, I am in recovery, and don’t make any secrets about that. One of the challenges I think all people in recovery have, in the beginning, is the level of denial they may have about their own addiction. I certainly had it. I really didn’t see myself as having an alcohol or drug problem. I did. But, I couldn’t see it. Denial wasn’t restricted to just my own view about my addiction. It was also focused on my own views about my family. I think one of the biggest falsehoods I ever told myself was, “If I’m hurting anybody because of my drinking or using, it’s me”. The truth is, I hurt everybody who ever cared anything about me.
It began with my family, because they saw me going down the tubes. Getting worse and worse. It seemed to be no matter what they did to try to help me, it just didn’t work. I know it broke their hearts over and over again, to see me getting in trouble, after trouble, after trouble. When I got into recovery, my family got into the recovery program as well. If my mother was here today, she would tell you it’s one of the best things she ever did. It enabled her to begin to feel better about herself, and it also taught her what were the most effective things to do for me in my recovery.
My mother and my family, because they loved me, they often did all the wrong things. If I got into trouble, they might bail me out, which in my mind, gave me permission to just go out and do the same thing again. Because I knew I would be bailed out by my parents. So it was a reality jolt for me, when my family began to shift their view of how they could help me. In the end, it was entirely the best thing they could have done, and they would not have learned how to do what they needed to do, had they not been involved in a family program.
I’m a big proponent of family work. I believe it is one of the best things Dilworth Center does. One of the things we do, is we do not charge any fees for the family program because we don’t want money to be a barrier to care. We know that participation in a family program nearly doubles a patient’s chances of recovery. That is remarkable. Another thing that we do is we offer virtual family care on Tuesday evenings so that we can catch those folks from out of the area, or people who simply cant make it to the facility, and then in person care, on Thursdays and Saturdays.
I appreciate the opportunity to meet with y’all today, and look forward to the next time.
— Charles Odell – “Chats With Charles”
If you or a loved one are struggling with drug or alcohol use, please contact Dilworth Center for help.
https://Dilworthcenter.org 704-372-6969
#addiction #alcoholism #treatment #difficult #keytorecovery #key #keys #unlock #dilworthcenter #addictiontreatment #recovery #sobriety
