Family Weekend Program
Attendance at the Family Program is by invitation only. Clients and their counselors decide who to invite. One person, or two if space is available, per client may be invited. The program is scheduled the last or next-to-last weekend of the client’s treatment. Persons 12 years old and older may attend, with a 12 -- 14 year old accompanied by an adult. If you cannot attend at this time, it is open to you for a weekend during the next year.
The Family Program takes place at Harmony. It includes:
- Information and group discussion about chemical dependency and codependency
- Communication skills and other recovery tools
- Interactive sessions with the client
- Introduction to Al-Anon; and Al-Anon skills of:
a) detachment with love, b) confrontation when needed, and c) how to be supportive and minimize enabling.
During the Family Program, family members and/or concerned others will receive information about the disease of chemical dependency, learn that it is not the fault of the family, and that the chemically dependent individual must be responsible for his/her own recovery.
We want you to look at how you have been affected by caring about/living with someone with this disease, to see that you have choices regarding your attitudes/behaviors, and to understand that efforts to control a chemically dependent person are generally not realistic. Participants can begin to feel better through sharing experiences/feelings, practicing new behaviors, and group support. It is important for family members to become involved in their own recovery. It is beneficial for you and your chemically dependent loved one simultaneously.
If you live with the client, please think about having an alcohol/drug-free home by the time he or she gets back.
