Family Support

Information for When your Loved One Returns

Clients who have completed treatment have experienced intensive group counselling.  They have been in a safe environment and they may when they go home:

• They may still be integrating tools and skills learned.  Be patient as they are still learning and practicing these new tools.  They may swing to extremes at times in trying to find their way and determine their balance.
• They have struggled to overcome fears, addictive patterns and thinking.  They have goals related to their recovery that need now to be put into practice.  This may not be easy and will be a bit scary.
• They have worked with their core issues and have been through a processes to help them work through long unresolved issues, they are still working to manage and understand their triggers.
• They have strived to identify their strengths, learned to use them and may have found their voice to overcome rules that have kept them silent, hiding and shut down.  They are empowered and have found their voice, what they say may not always be what you wanted to hear or it may be.
• They may be still adjusting to the changes and insights they have made.  So they may appear different or be using terminology that is treatment or AA related.  Encourage and support their path of wellness even if you don’t fully understand it.
• They will have an outline of aftercare plans that they have agreed to follow to help them with relapse prevention and other self-care items.   As relapse can be defined as a lapse into a former state.

It is okay to ask your family member who has been through treatment what their experience was but understand they may not be able to articulate it to you.  Clients experience treatment differently and uniquely to them and where they are in their recovery process will vary.

Your loved one will need ongoing support and guidance – their challenges will come in implementing their new skills in their home environment and in continuing to care for themselves and loved ones responsibly.

RLTC encourages past clients to continue contact with us, keep us up to date on their progress and if they choose return for a refresher program if necessary.  RLTC does admit adult family groups and partners over the age of nineteen.

If you as a family member have questions, please see the Alcohol and Drug counsellor in your home community, attend your local Al-Anon meeting or AA group.  Ask a trusted other you may know who may have also had similar experience when someone they loved attended and then returned from treatment.