Addiction is not a “solo” disease, it affects every member of the family. Because of this, Victory invites families to take an active role in their loved one’s recovery through our weekly Family Care Group. This not only benefits the clients but also helps the entire family learn how to best support their loved one in the future and how to deal with past hurts caused by the person’s addiction.

“Family Care Group provides families and loved ones the opportunity to engage with others who struggle with dealing with their loved one’s addiction,” explains Sherri Hebert, LAC,LCSW. “We discuss detachment, boundaries, codependency, communication, self-care, feelings, defense mechanisms, irrational thoughts, just to name a few. We encourage Al-anon in addition to our Thursday night meeting.”

For the past year, a group of approximately six family members have been attending the Thursday night meetings. “They have shared with me that they ‘feel lost’ when they miss a Thursday night meeting,” Sherri says. “I also have a gentleman who is active in the Al-anon community that attends weekly and has been helpful with providing his experience in his own recovery. The members say that they like to attend my group because they feel safe and comfortable in sharing and receiving feedback. I have also received feedback from patients that they see a change in their loved ones since attending my meetings. Jason, our IOP counselor, has also shared with me that he sees a difference in their progress when his patients have their family attend.”  

Family members are invited to Family Care Night during their loved one’s stay at Victory and beyond. This free group is designed for adult family members and individuals in recovery who want to learn more about addiction recovery.