It’s a Family Disease
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Turning Point of Tampa has helped thousands find recovery. As an in-network facility, we are able and committed to helping you find the life you deserve.
It’s a Family Disease
Do you love someone who is an alcoholic or an addict? Did you grow up with or are you currently living with someone who is struggling with their addiction? Turning Point of Tampa understands the challenges that come with helping the ones we love, and also the toll it takes on the families trying to help. Addiction is a family disease. It destroys everyone in its path.
Our therapists will address the family dynamics and the impact that addiction has had on them. By integrating a 12-Step philosophy, our holistic approach enables our therapists to address the entire scope of this disease, such as:
Loving someone who suffers from addiction, an eating disorder, or any related illness can be just as hard on family as it can be for their loved one. This is why we believe it is important to educate family members on the illness, as well as what it means to recover from it. During treatment, the client and family participate together in order for them to gain a clear understanding of recovery.
Turning Point of Tampa also offers a weekly family support group, free of charge, to any family member of a current or former client. This not only gives family members much-needed ongoing support, but it enables them to continue gaining insight as they navigate through their own recovery.
In addition to the weekly family group, we address family issues head-on in our Intensive Outpatient Program. One night out of their three nights of treatment, our Outpatient clients can invite their family members to attend this educational/process therapy group. The eight-week program focuses on such topics as Relapse Prevention, Family Dynamics, Dual Diagnosis and Codependency. Turning Point of Tampa has found that including the family in the therapeutic process strengthens our clients’ recovery.
Here are some questions to consider:
- Have you tried to control your loved one’s drinking/using?
- Have you tried drinking/using with the alcoholic/addict, in hopes of strengthening the relationship?
- Have you ever lied to cover up for the alcoholic/addict?
- Have you put aside your own hobbies, interests and values, for the sake of your loved one’s happiness and health?
- Have you bailed the alcoholic/addict out of jail or paid their legal fees?
- Have you ever felt responsible for your loved one’s drinking /using?
- Have you had difficulty setting and keeping boundaries with your loved one?
- Have you threatened to leave if the alcoholic/addict didn’t stop, and then did not leave?
- Do you continue to do things you said you wouldn’t do because you don’t know what else to do?
It can be hard to tell if you are enabling or helping. Remember that enabling is doing something for someone when they are capable and should be doing it for themselves.
It can be painful to answer some of these questions. Guilt can play a big part in preventing us from taking care of ourselves. We can even lose sight of our own self-worth and needs, while trying to understand the difference between helping and enabling. Caring for a loved one with an addiction is a challenge in and of itself, but we must also take care of ourselves in the process. Turning Point of Tampa believes that addiction is a family disease and we are here to help.
At Turning Point of Tampa, we know that taking care of yourself is just as important as taking care of the ones you love. If you feel you or someone you love could benefit from this kind of support, please call us at (813) 592-4504 or email us at admissions@tpoftampa.com.
Useful Community Resources:
Al-Anon: www.al-anon.org
Alateen: www.al-anon.org (under Alateen Tab)
Nar-Anon: www.nar-anon.org
Codependency Anonymous: www.coda.org
