If you or your partner is struggling with substance abuse, you may naturally wonder how drug or alcohol abuse will affect the outcome of your relationship. Whether you are currently using drugs or alcohol, your partner’s substance abuse is affecting your relationship, or if both parties have a drug or alcohol habit, enrolling in a treatment program is the most reliable path to potentially saving your relationship.
Untangling Your Relationship From Addiction
Substance abuse has a direct effect on interpersonal relationships. Even if both parties drink or use drugs together, there typically comes a point of contention. Drugs and alcohol affect the way people think, feel, and communicate. These are critical activities in a relationship. Therefore, when drugs and alcohol alter an individual’s thoughts, feelings, and communication style, the relationship becomes less predictable and more unstable based on the individual’s varying levels of intoxication, withdrawal, and physiological dependence on his or her substance of choice.
A treatment program can help both parties understand the way substance abuse affects the health and function of a relationship. Many treatment programs extend the opportunity for individuals to attend workshops and receive counseling with their loved ones once a week or monthly. Treatment centers also offer resources for people whose loved ones may require treatment for drug or alcohol abuse. Nevertheless, the primary focus of drug or alcohol rehab begins with treating each client as an individual first.
How Individualized Treatment Benefits Couples
Substance abuse affects families, friends, and entire communities, but at its core, addiction is personal. It is important to get to the underlying cause of your substance abuse or addiction habits. For that reason, your treatment program will be all about you. Treatment center staff and clinicians will provide therapy and guide you through activities to help you discover more about yourself and learn healthy ways to navigate life without resorting to drinking or doing drugs. Your treatment will take place in a supportive, healthy, safe, encouraging environment that will allow you to focus solely on becoming your best self, which will ultimately make you a better friend, family member, employee, community member, and partner as you travel your personal road in recovery.
Types of Substance Abuse Programs
Local treatment centers offer outpatient and inpatient programs, depending on the client’s lifestyle needs and the nature of his or her relationship to substance abuse. People who require a more structured program typically enroll in a residential inpatient treatment program. Residential treatment offers the unparalleled advantage of being able to isolate from the everyday environment and triggers that may otherwise fuel the tendency to drink or do drugs. Outpatient treatment is often an option for patients who have employment obligations, family responsibilities, and a stable home environment that supports the individual’s effort to get clean and remain sober.
Support For Loved Ones
If your partner has a drug or alcohol addiction, there is help for you. Learning to trust, avoiding enabling behavior, and eliminating actions that may trigger your partner’s substance abuse are common challenges people face when their partner has an issue with drugs or alcohol. A drug or alcohol treatment center can help you assess your own behavior and learn ways to respond whether your partner refuses to seek treatment or if your partner is currently enrolled in a treatment program and you are preparing for life post-rehab. An experienced substance abuse specialist will listen to your concerns and help you create a plan to help you move forward toward potentially improving and saving your relationship and bringing peaceful harmony to your home.
Substance Abuse Treatment for Individuals and Couples
We can help you and your partner move toward a happier, healthier, clean and sober lifestyle. Our addiction specialists will share information with you about resources to help those who struggle with substance abuse and their loved ones find the path to recovery. You don’t have to agonize over the future of your relationship alone. We will walk with you and provide the services you and your partner need to heal and, if possible, move forward together. Call us today at 772-266-5320 to learn more about treatment centers and resources and families who are affected by substance abuse or addiction.
