What is Support Really?Why is it so Important to Family Recovery?

BALM Principle 8 states “Getting support will greatly enhance your recovery.”

This principle says it all. Support enhances not only recovery but all of life.

As we all found out during the darkest days of shutdowns during Covid, forced isolation hurts emotionally and often physically. The ache of not being able to see, touch, hug, or be with the people we love is all too familiar to so many of us.

Having a loved one with a substance use disorder (SUD), other use disorder, or mental health disorder can also feel very isolating. The shame, the guilt. That feeling of being ‘the only one’ with this ‘embarrassing’ problem in their family. In short, the stigma of loving someone with these struggles can make a family member feel so alone.

In BALM, we found a community of family members and professionals who understand where we have been, what we are facing, and what it will take to get our lives back and help our struggling loved ones find recovery.

The support we find in a group coaching session, a 7 Steps class, a 12 Principles lesson, or a one-on-one coaching session, all increase our sense of being supported and, yes, understood, by others who have been there.

There is also an inner support that we can give ourselves. It is found in having a daily meditation practice, eating healthy, getting sleep, and moving our bodies. We can support ourselves and support each other in ways that enhance our recovery greatly.

Every time we make the choice to go to the Weekly Call List and choose to attend a class, workshop, or group, we feel the support of our own self care leading us to the support of the community we find in the BALM.

Together we enhance each other’s recovery and grow in our own.

What is support? Anything we do to grow our recovery in the company of our most peaceful selves and each other.

To learn more about the BALM Family Recovery One Year Program, visit the program page or call Karen at 1-888-998-2256 Ext 5.