Recovery Story from One Family Whose Daughter Was Addicted to a Substance
My daughter has been and is still working 30 hours a week (no benefits, so we paythe health insurance premium). She is a house manager at a men’s mental health sober living house. She has a sponsor who just made one year of sobriety, and it helps both of them.
Looking back, FA (Families Anonymous) did not help us with her, it just gave us group support. Which was good but we needed more.
Four actions actually helped my daughter who was addicted:
- The book Beyond Addiction (Audiobook here) by Jeffrey Foot, PHD, and others. This showed us how allowing them to be part of decisions and not doing interventions was important.
- Bringing her to a 90-day stay at The Refuge in Florida in the trauma treatment program
- A sober living house that allowed her emotional support cat to be with her. This was so very healing
- Providing a safe place to live
This is just to illustrate what one family was able to do to help. Addiction is a scenario where we all need to shift, the families included. We cannot shame someone into recovery. Because they already feel like dirt.
Money and finding space can present challenges. Interventions might seem like a good idea, but in my experience, they are not as they are shaming circles. If I were to do it over and had it been available, I would have tried FBT (Family-Based Treatment), especially for adolescents and young adults. It has shown good results (another source) and can be less expensive than other options.
Resources
- Click here to download the resources for families of the addicted (no email necessary).
- Free PDF download for FBT, Family-Based Treatment
- Download the image “Say This, Not That” card in a printable PDF (it’s the image at the top)
- Article: As much as I want you to get well, I love you even if you don’t
- Article: The Difference Between Tough Love and Setting Boundaries
- Article: Should you kick your addicted child out of the house?
Signs of Drug Use
by Anne Moss Rogers & Stas Novitsky. Stas is a person in long-term recovery and this is a practical guide on what to look for in your home/at work and in the person’s behavior.
Learn behaviors and clues that indicate drug use:
- Paraphernalia to look for by drug type
- Physical signs to look for by drug type
- Brand & generic names of addictive prescription drugs
- 30 easy-to-read pages w/ bullet points and photos
AnneMoss Rogers is a leading wellness and suicide education expert and one of the top mental health speakers and suicide prevention speakers. Known for her powerful, motivational keynotes, AnneMoss combines her personal story of loss with proven strategies to help organizations build a wellness culture that drives results and saves lives. She speaks at conferences, workplaces, K-12 schools, and universities, delivering impactful presentations that inspire change and promote mental health awareness.
AnneMoss does this work in memory of her son, Charles, who struggled with anxiety, depression, and addiction, and died by suicide at age 20 in 2015.