How Could a BALM Family Recovery Life Coach Help You Help the Families You Serve?

Bev’s Corner 3-17-17

Everyday, another family finds out that they have a loved one struggling with substances or other addictive behaviors.

The scene is a familiar one and it goes something like this: Disbelief, Panic, Anger, Rage, Excuses, Guilt, More Panic, Blame, Despair…Somewhere in that process, the family may choose to get help. Once they have their loved one in a facility – perhaps yours?- it often isn’t long until their loved one voices concerns and demands. Things like…

• they don’t really care about me here mom – they just want your money
• these people don’t know what they are doing
• I hate my roommate
• the food here is horrible

and inevitably, if the family succumbs to the pressure that they deal with all of these ‘problems’ and ‘crises’ that their struggling loved one tells them about, the big one comes:

• Get me out of here! I don’t care if it is a 28/60/90 day program. I hate it here and I want out!

The attempt to partner with families when they are in the throes of being completely manipulated by their loved ones can appear to be futile and often leads to statements from treatment providers such as:

• these families are crazy
• they are sicker than the clients
• they are the reason the client is so sick
• I know that sending my client home to this family they don’t have a chance but I have no one in the family to talk to. they are all invested in doing whatever the client wants…

Things have come a long way from 2008 when I first got into Family Recovery Life Coaching. That year, I approached a treatment professional to tell him what I was doing and he said, “What do you want to work with those crazy family members for when there are so many sick sick addicts who really need your help and expertise?”

Today, many professionals have read the literature on the family’s powerful role in helping the loved one make the decision to get into recovery and stick with it. Yet, the solutions being offered still fall so far of the mark. Not because they are not well-intentioned. They are. But a 3-7 day program just isn’t enough to shift behavior permanently for most families. And most treatment centers are simply too busy taking care of their clients to make the family’s healing as important as it needs to be to make a positive impact.

So, what’s a caring treatment center or outpatient facility or sober living program or recovery residence to do to make a longterm impact on the family that will ultimately make a longterm positive impact on their loved one’s ability to stay sober long after therapy/treatment/residence ends?

How about treating your clients’ families to the BALM?

The BALM Institute trains highly skilled professionals who understand the family’s role and know how to reach those families who don’t. We offer a full year comprehensive online program for families which includes a complimentary coaching session and the opportunity for your families to work individually with a coach if they choose to! Starting this summer, we will also offer in-person classes to families in cities and towns in the US and Great Britain!

We are there for you as a treatment center, helping you create bridges with families, help you help them understand how to partner with you.

This work is so important and a BALM Family Recovery Life Coach can be your center’s key to creating powerful healthy family relationships and center-family partnerships that advocate for a client’s recovery.

Our goal is to help families grow in their own recovery as they learn and practice communication tools that will allow them to be there for themselves and their loved one and each other in a positive, recovery oriented way.

To learn more about how to find a BALM Coach to partner with your center, give us a call at 888-998-BALM today or email Tracy Ward at tward@familyrecoveryresources.com.

To get more information about our Family Recovery Life Coaching Program CLICK HERE.