A Family Member’s Experience

Addiction affects everyone in the family — and everyone in the family needs help and support. People often ask what happens in the family program and we thought we would let Dominique tell you in her own words…

I will always be grateful for the family program at Dilworth and the ways in which it has helped our family. My spouse has been a patient at Dilworth Center and during this time we have both grown in incredible ways. Counselors began by welcoming me to my first family group meeting and asked if I would say a few words. I said I was thrilled to be there. Yes, thrilled! My spouse had finally asked for help. I was ready to be present, take in everything I could, and participate in any way possible.

Having multiple group meetings to choose from was extremely helpful. I have learned so much from every parent, sibling and spouse who has attended family group. Listening to their stories and challenges helps me to reflect on my own hurdles and how I am handling them. Being able to talk and share my thoughts helped me to realize how far I had personally come in my own program. Learning appropriate responses and ways to manage a hard conversation with my spouse or family members, has helped to make our life at home much more peaceful!

I love how our meetings are so open, giving the opportunity to share to anyone facing a hard moment, and that often just kicks off the whole night’s discussion. I never know what my takeaway will be when I arrive, but I always leave with a grateful heart, a clear perspective and a nugget of wisdom to carry me through the next few days. I wholeheartedly know that whenever a situation arises that I am unsure of I can reach out to the counselors for guidance. They are shining beacons of hope and clarity. Having the ability to have a meeting with the family counselors and my spouse’s counselor gave us a chance to check in and uncover issues we didn’t even know each other was facing. We have used that as a jumping off point to have additional conversations, and thus, been able to continue to break down those walls and barriers we had both put up over the years.

Learning so much more about the disease that we are living with has replaced fear with knowledge, and with knowledge comes POWER!! Power to choose how I react, power to walk away from a situation that isn’t good for me, power to show compassion to someone who is struggling and scared, power to set boundaries. This knowledge opened both of our eyes and we now see the disease for what it is. My spouse is a sweet, quiet, hardworking, kind person who had been swallowed up by an ugly disease. My spouse has clawed out of its grasp and every ounce of that knowledge helped! This is a family disease and Dilworth Center has helped our entire family stop its progression! I will always be eternally grateful to the men and women who work there. Each person at Dilworth has helped us feel welcome, assisted us in building a network of support, and been a part of guiding myself and my spouse on this difficult journey. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart!!