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Audio Lecture |
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Hello everyone and welcome back. In this section we talk a
little bit about family systems models in relation to addictions treatment.
So let's begin by going to slide two.
First of all as we can see here, any intervention in the family is always
positive, especially in relation addiction treatment because it helps the
family and the healing process and it empowers the members to begin their
own self-healing. In addition it helps the members recognize the addictions
process and understand the addictions process. This will occur whether or
not the user actually begins to seek out treatment or changes their use
patterns. So basically any kind of intervention that the family makes will
be useful to the particular family.
Now there is a wide variety of different models that one can discuss in
great detail when one talks about addictions treatment. That is not the
purpose of this class here but what I would like to do is provide an
overview of some of the different approaches that one takes. As we see in
slide three the Pure Family Model looks at treatment and basically has all
the members of the family in the treatment and therapy sessions and so it is
not just working with one individual it is working with all the family
members and everyone is listening and hearing what everyone else is saying,
etc. That is in contrast in individual or group approaches. Here this
relates to some kind of homeostatic model that we talked about earlier in
the class. Basically you try to get the group balanced back to some kind of
normal functioning. A third model looks at some of the models that come out
of psychotherapy whether it is psychoanalytic or cognitive, etc. This
basically relies on working with each individual as an individual within the
family.
There are other family models that relate to family therapy as well and some
of this is discussed in slide four. What we have are some specific therapies
that are designed specifically for spouses or partners of the user. Here you
might look at codependency issues, you might look at enabling issues and a
wide variety of other things. Finally, there are supportive models that one
can use for family members as well. Here is where you use models that
basically help individuals to cope with the users living situation. This can
be difficult and of course can cause lots and lots of problems.
Now, there is a lot of advantages of using family treatment models. First of
all it provides some balance between the models that focus on some kind of
internal explanation for using and also for some kind of stress reduction
explanation. So in essence what it is trying to do is give you some balance.
Also as we see in slide five it helps to explain the imbalance that occurs
and is maintained in imbalanced family systems. And, it provides a systems
approach, that is, using the whole group rather than looking at the
individualized approach where you are only looking at one individual at a
time.
The goals for family treatment are numerous basically the whole idea is to
focus on the family commitment to recovery by all the members so
consequently you are going to focus on behaviors, communication issues, and
as we see in slide six you may also educate the members about the disorder,
solidify rules and consequences, specify changes for the members and
ultimately can even provide strategies for the family in case a relapse
occurs.
Again, the key as in slide seven is to focus on the behavior. In family
therapy we all recognize is that the family functions as a unit and so the
focus of the therapy is for the family as the unit. Of course the counseling
may include individual sessions, group sessions, or both. Consequently it
allows for other issues to be examined and resolved at a family system level
rather than at an individualized level.
Now there are other issues one may address in family therapy, some of these
are listed on slide eight. You may have to assess or evaluate domestic abuse
or violence. You may have to look at separations if a person who is a user
goes to inpatient treatment. Does the family need to get out of the living
arrangement, etc. One might also have legal issues that one needs to resolve
as well. And finally, there is going to be changes as a result of treatment
to the addict and that is going to impact the family as a whole and maybe
others as well.
So in conclusion, family therapy can be a very effective mechanism to help
both the addict to change their behavior and to help individuals within the
family cope with the addicts usage. It can also help families survive and it
can help individuals living in isolation. Finally and one of the most
important aspects as we see in slide nine, is that the interventions can
resolve a lot of problems that may continue on to the offspring. So we can
stop the process and the cycle that often occurs from one addictive family
into another addictive family.
Well, that concludes this section. In our final section we will talk about
some other models which relate to treatment. So until then we hope you have
a good day and we look forward to talking with you soon.
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