FAMILY
SUPPORT
"No one ever recovers on their own." This
principle encourages patients to seek out and accept
the help of professionals, 12-step groups and others.
However, a person's recovery from addiction is
grounded as much in the family as with physicians
and therapists.
The staff at Livengrin Family Services is ready
to assist families with the difficulties of coping
with a loved one in treatment, and throughout the
recovery process.
Commonly, family members adjust their own thinking
and behavior to deal with that of the addicted
person. They may have dealt with the patient's
behavior for years. They cope, rationalize, avoid
confrontation (or perhaps instigate it), give up
trying to help, threaten penalties, or go through
many other responses over time. This is natural
and understandable.
Often, family members and loved ones feel powerless
to stop the continued downward spiral of drug and
alcohol abuse. In some cases, they have become "enablers" by
hoping that the problem will go away or cure itself.
Or, as we too often read in the news, a parent
provides something "light" (such as beer)
to teenagers at a party in a false hope that this
will help them stay off of more potent drinks or
drugs.
As one counselor puts it, "Begging, pleading,
bargaining and threats are all useless in the family's
attempt to prevent their loved one from destroying
himself or herself. They have no understanding
how a person who is supposed to love them can hurt
them so much. As a result, they often feel responsible
for their loved one's substance abuse."
When the patient does return home from treatment
(feeling better and more confident about their
ability to apply new life-skills), how can anyone
expect the family to simply feel equally well?
What happens to the fear and anxieties, the patterns
of thinking, the distrust and sadness that had
built up over those months and years? Just because "Charlie" is
better, what about the frustration and emotions
that everyone else still carries?
These are the issues tackled by the Livengrin
clinical team.
Family members begin with a "Significant
Person Questionnaire," completed by those
that bring a potential patient into the facility.
The responses allow a family therapist, while meeting
with the loved ones (often while the patient is
going through intake), to inform them about what
they'll soon be going through as treatment proceeds
and recovery begins.
Then comes the major component, the "Day
of Enlightenment." This six-hour Saturday
program (required for families of patients
in the Residential Rehab level of care and
strongly encouraged for all others) is vitally
important to help the family adjust their thinking
and feelings, and to prepare (as does the patient)
for "life
after Livengrin."
Family members learn that they are not at fault,
and that it's important to acquire the tools and
understanding needed to protect themselves from
possible future emotional hurts. We let them know
that they can heal and grow as a family again,
no matter what the addict or alcoholic in their
life may do.
DUAL
DIAGNOSIS
People who suffer from an addiction are often
susceptible to mental health problems. It is estimated
that, of the 2 million Americans with severe mental
illness, about half are also abusing illicit drugs
or alcohol. There are many cases of overlapping
dependencies as well.
Livengrin's clinical staff is experienced in dealing
with the ways in which mental health disorders
can be aggravated, or hidden, by substance abuse.
Each patient works with a highly-trained counselor
to examine the life-circumstances and history of
choices that may be mixing with mental health challenges,
and to develop the skills to avoid relapsing in
a world full of pressures.
Chemical dependency can cover up a serious psychiatric
illness, while depression can disguise a substance-use
disorder. Sometimes, patients deliberately "allow" treatment
for their mental health in order to avoid confronting
their addiction. Or they'll "admit to being
a junkie" so that they can skip the psychiatric
issues.
Those with "double trouble" - challenged
by substance abuse and a co-occurring psychiatric
disorder - can have their multiple needs addressed
(in many cases) at Livengrin. Its dual diagnosis
program combines the treatment process that contributes
to rehabilitation with the therapeutic approaches
for mental health that will be appropriate for
each individual.
Responding
to the D.U.I. PROBLEM
One of the most painful aspects of substance abuse
in our society is apparent every day, as people
are killed and maimed on our streets by those driving
under the influence.
In a vast majority of cases, impaired drivers
do not take responsibility for their terrible judgment
and destructive actions. In their eyes, an accident
is always someone else's fault; a traffic stop
and arrest is a "set-up" by an overly
zealous police officer.
Yet the pain caused to American families goes
on and on, thousands of times a year.
Livengrin's DUI services are among the most comprehensive
in the region. Facilitated by credentialed staff,
driving-under-influence programs bring about an
understanding of legal and moral responsibility.
Evaluations are available by appointment, in which
a counselor can discern what program will be most
helpful to both first-time and chronic offenders.
Most of those attending do so as part of a court
ruling, but these classes and group sessions are
open to anyone. The DUI program brings about drivers'
comprehension and acceptance of their responsibility
to stay sober, and provides useful tools for relapse
prevention. Attendance at "victim impact panels" offers
dramatic exposure to the suffering of those whose
lives have been damaged by impaired drivers.
Livengrin reaches out to parts of the community
that can often be culturally isolated due to language
and other barriers, and conducts DUI programs in
Spanish and Russian as well as English. Both the
Bensalem and Northeast Philadelphia offices conduct
DUI sessions.
To contact DUI program, call 215-638-5266.
