VARC’s Family Care Group makes a difference to loved ones and clients
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.
Sherri is a natural choice to lead our Family Care Night. Having worked in the healthcare field since 1992, she became interested in serving people with addictions while employed in an inpatient behavioral health unit. She became a Counselor in Training in 2012 and a Certified Addiction Counselor in 2014. After five years of working in a detox-only program, she became familiar with VARC and was impressed by the facility’s staff.
After receiving her LCSW, Sherri joined the VARC team in 2022, initially as a family care facilitator via Zoom. She is now a primary therapist and has received her LAC.
Please contact us if you or a loved one is interested in the Family Care Group, or in seeking treatment at Victory Addiction Recovery Center.
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