“I Can’t Afford It” What Families Tell Themselves About Getting Family Recovery Help

Time and again, families call the BALM and ask for help.

“My son is really struggling.”

“My daughter can’t stop using.”

“My husband comes home drunk every night.”

“My sister came home from treatment and started using within a month.”

So, we discuss the BALM.

• a full year of education and coaching that includes Information, Transformation and Support.
• a place to go where there is a rich and substantive amount of information about use disorders, how to recover from them, and how to help a loved one recover as you, the family member grow more and more peaceful each day.
• the opportunity to learn communication skills and practice them with others facing similar situations
• coaching groups where experts answer questions and coach you on the challenges you and your loved one is facing
• the opportunity to hire a private coach to accelerate your progress

The family members hear all this and say, “I must have this. How do i sign up?”

And so we tell them they get over 450 hours of  recorded lessons and  interviews with experts and families, along with over 300 pages of workbooks, handouts and guides to help you along the way and all for only $1800 for the year for up to 4 family members.

“What? so expensive! But I can go to Al-anon for free!”

“Yes you can,” we respond.

Al-anon is a time proven program for inner freedom for family members facing a loved one’s struggles. The reason so many Al-anoners add BALM to their recovery work is due to the structured way in which we approach helping families help not only themselves but their loved ones too. We offer a fast track so people don’t have to spend years putting together the pieces of whole family recovery, many of which can be found in Al-anon, themselves.

Some families at that point say they will and we wish them well. Others say they do not like Al-anon or other groups but they will not pay for this help.

We wish them well and let them know we will be here when and if they need us.

And then, a lot of times, two months to two years down the road that phone call comes into our office or that of one of our coaches:

“I’m at the end of my rope.”

At that point the family is ready either for their own self-paced BALM experience or to join the BALM and contract for one-on-one coaching as well.

They either pay up front, or avail themselves of the financing or payment plans we offer.

The professional work of BALM Family Recovery Education and Coaching does cost money. It costs money to run the web platform all of our recordings are stored on, it costs money to pay teachers to teach all of the classes and coaches to run all of the groups. We keep our costs as low as possible so that we can serve as many families as possible and we work hard to provide scholarships when needed.

If you would like to make a donation to the BALM Scholarship Fund to help a family who needs help and cannot afford it, please contact Ginny Atwood at ginnyatwood@thecaf.org where the Chris Atwood Foundation administers the fund.

If you feel your family needs the BALM, consider making it a priority to get the help you need. So often, families believe they must provide help for their loved one, yet, the work you do in family recovery can make ALL the difference in whether or not your loved one’s treatment experience will be successful in the long run. Of course, there are NO guarantees, but isn’t being their BEST chance worth the investment?

In the long run, your loved one could thank you for considering your own family recovery path as valuable and worth traveling for your own, and their well being!

Best,

Bev