Shoreline Recovery Center highlights important link between relationships and mental health.
Studies show that people who are more socially connected to family, friends, or their community are typically happier and physically healthier. They therefore live longer, with fewer problems than individuals who are less connected.
In fact, relationships are one of the most important aspects of our lives and yet the problems they can create are one of the top three stressors when it comes to relapse and substance use.
According to addiction counselors, alcoholics and addicts need to have a reason for why they want to be sober long term before they commit to treatment. Sometimes it’s for their parents. Other times, to appease their spouse and often it’s forgiveness from their children. All of these are to mend broken relationships.
As a vital part of mental health and overall well-being, the impressions made on us through connection with others are significant. While positive relationships have the capability to improve mental health, negative ones can influence adverse life choices and prompt unhealthy coping mechanisms.
“The No. 1 priority is healing the family system – teaching parents what’s acceptable as far as involvement in their adult kids’ lives,” Burson said. “The lines can get blurred differentiating between helping and enabling –– that’s a huge focus of our work with families.”
When we consider addiction at the ground level, it’s the relationships that we’ve cultivated over time or never had, that influence who we become. Those who have experienced things like abandonment, abuse or neglect, can more easily find solace in alcohol or drugs.
While intrinsic motivation seems to have the best success for recovery, those afflicted by alcohol and drug use don’t usually get treatment until they’ve experienced devastating outcomes. This can include shattered friendships, divorce, loss of child custody and even their job.
At Shoreline Recovery Center, the staff understand firsthand this type of destructive consequences, with many employees in recovery themselves.
“On the clinical side, our approach is about rebuilding the human being and getting them to a place of self-worth and self-efficacy,” said Shoreline Recovery Center Director, Craig Burson.
This starts with the individual but includes others such as friends and loved ones.
“I’ve never seen anybody who is isolated become successful. There’s always some kind of community component involved,” Max Kubota, LMFT said.
At Shoreline Recovery Center, treatment includes helping their clients understand what leads them to addiction by learning what might have triggered use in the past – a process that can be very difficult. “We try to help the person we’re working with understanding the problem they’re facing so they want to change,” Burson said. “Long term sobriety is about creating a life that you wouldn’t want to relapse because you wouldn’t want to jeopardize it.”
