Q & A Archives
I also have an addiction and am in recovery. Why should I to work a family recovery program when I’m already working my own addiction recovery program?
If you are already working a 12-Step program, but you are still struggling to address your loved one’s addiction and take care of yourself around this issue, you very well may need a family recovery program in order to do so. There are several things to keep in mind...
I grew up with addiction, now I have a loved one who is also addicted. How do I address both issues?
It is not uncommon for someone who grew up with addiction in the family to marry someone with an addiction, have a child who develops an addiction, or both. This is another reason for you to work on your own healing and recovery. As an adult child of a mother and...
Why won’t my insurance cover in-patient treatment? I thought the Affordable Care Act made addiction care a requirement for all insurance plans.
The Affordable Care Act does require all insurance policies to offer addiction treatment coverage. But it allows policies to set conditions on treatment if they choose. Some policies require a person to go through outpatient treatment before they will cover in-patient...
My loved one claims they’re smoking marijuana for medical reasons. How do I know if they really need marijuana for their problems?
The short answer is you don’t. However, you can nevertheless take actions in response to how their use is affecting you. There is a lot of controversy around marijuana, especially around potential medical uses of it. But here are some things we do and don’t know about...
I’ve heard that 12-Step programs don’t work. Is that true?
No. It’s not true. Just go to any open 12-Step meeting and listen to people talk about how long they’ve been sober or clean, and you will see that they do work. 12-Step support groups are also a widely available and inexpensive source of the recovery support services...
What is harm reduction?
Harm reduction is a response to a number of issues with substance use. First, harm reduction is a response to the addiction epidemic that acknowledges that not every addicted person will find the wherewithal to choose to recover. Second, it acknowledges that sobriety...
I’ve heard that medically assisted treatment isn’t actually abstinence. Should my loved one use it?
This is another area where stigmas around addiction still persist and where there is still much to be learned. There are several things to think about when considering medically assisted treatment. For a long time, abstinence-only approaches, where the person abstains...
It seems like there are a lot of different models of treatment out there. How do I know what kind of treatment my loved one needs?
There ARE a lot of different models of treatment out there. Your loved one will need to be assessed to determine the exact nature of his or her needs. 40% of people with substance use disorders also have another co-occurring mental disorder. Co-occurring disorders...
How do I help my children? Should I tell them about their family member if they don’t already know?
It will be helpful to speak with a trained therapist about what is appropriate to tell your children but I do want to address the belief I hear many parents say, which is that, if their children have never seen their parent use, then the children have no idea there is...