Nearly everyone knows someone or is related to someone who is an addict. While the disease itself may effect only one person in a family, addiction has far-reaching consequences for every family member involved. From parents who have had to spend years worrying about whether their enabling their child or if they’ll survive living on the street or in jail to spouses who have had to deal with the countless lies and broken promises associated with being married to an addict. That is why it is so important, in the process of treating addiction, that the family members become involved. Just because they aren’t addicts themselves, doesn’t mean they too don’t have lives in need of healing.
With this idea in mind, Muse has set out to reincorporate the entire family back into addiction treatment with our first ever Family Weekend. Held earlier this year from February 13th-15th, we invited the family and loved ones of the clients at Muse to come and tour our facility, learn about what it’s like to go through addiction treatment, and to participate in family therapies with their son, daughter, or spouse. Just as going into treatment can be scary for addicts, many of the family members also experienced some initial trepidation. The idea of looking at our own character defects and walking into a therapeutic environment with our loved ones can be scary. But after this weekend all fears were eventually wiped away. Those who did attend realized the incredible relief that comes with sharing in their loved ones recovery and the overall reaction to the weekend was fantastic.
This Family weekend turned into more than just a way to introduce the families to our program, it became an amazing experience for the staff and clients as well. So Muse wants to thank all of the family members who came and attended.
We would also like to extend a big thank you to the people who made this possible because this event could not have been achieved without the incredible effort of our staff. Karen Greenberg, our Director of Business Development, and Shelby Alkire, Executive Director, put in hours of tireless work to coordinate with the different families and make sure the weekend went off without a hitch. Our next Family Weekend will be coming up later in Summer 2015, so stay tuned for details or contact Karen Greenberg if you want to get involved!
