Hope and Assurance

I am writing as a parent participant in support of the Family Program at the Dilworth Center. The benefits I have received from this program have been essential to the recovery of my son, a patient in the adolescent program, and my entire family.

The Family Program is closely coordinated with patient treatment providing us with opportunities for addiction education, small family therapy groups, individual and multi-family meetings, and ongoing access to counselors as needs may arise. We began our Dilworth experience with an individual orientation with the family counselor and input from our son’s counselor. This meeting gave us hope and assurance, as it informed us of the structure, expectations, and the support network available to our family and to the patient. It also introduced a key concept of addiction – that it is a family disease affecting everyone and that each family member needs healing and recovery.

In the first family therapy session we are invited to tell the story of how we got to the Dilworth center. My story was similar to others, including rescue plans with poor outcomes, sadness, regrets, resentments, and helplessness. In the group setting, we continue to share day-to-day our stories. Our counselors provide vital information, such as detachment, enabling, boundaries and appropriate responses to the challenges of living with loved ones in early sobriety and recovery. The family program has been essential in the ongoing positive changes and improvements to my story.

I am grateful to have the guidance and support of the family counselors and the interaction they provide with the other families in the therapy sessions.

Additionally, the counselors read from Al Anon, Nar Anon, and codependency literature. They encourage participation in these groups to bolster the support we have available as we continue our recovery from the disease of alcoholism.