Self-Care for Families Struggling with Addiction Introduction

Week 8 Overview: Self-Care for Families Struggling With Addiction

Introduction

Offering resources on self-care to families struggling with addiction is a vital part of working with multifamily groups. As you have discovered, there are likely multiple treatment facilities that support addiction in your community. This week you will explore the various ways that families can take care of themselves as they try to navigate the many challenges that surround addiction. You will also explore how a family's readiness for change might impact their willingness to access and utilize coping strategies, and you will discuss how peer support can be an important part of maintaining health on the path of recovery.

Week 8 Discussion 1: The Importance of Peer Support

Discuss your perspective about how receiving or offering peer support could be helpful in the recovery process. How might accessing this support be considered a coping strategy?

Describe how you might incorporate peer support strategies into group lesson planning.

Reply to the learners below:

Learner 1: Mariahma

Discuss your perspective about how receiving or offering peer support could be helpful in the recovery process. 

According to Markoulakis & Levitt (2018), peer support can be a valuable resource for those who struggle with addiction because peers serve as models of recovery due to their own experiences with the same struggle of the person they are supporting. Therefore, I believe that receiving peer support can be helpful in the recovery process and is vital. I work with a lot of clients who struggle with addiction and one of the options they are given is to have a Parent Partner provider so they have access to peer support. A Parent Partner provider serves as a peer support because they are in recovery and have already had similar experiences as the client. According to Markoulakis & Levitt (2018), lived experience is a high motivator that results in reassurance and trust. With this lived experience, the overall goal is for the Parent Partner to support the client through the recovery process. Therefore, the Parent Partner is not only a support, but serves as an example of how recovery is possible because they have been in recovery for a long time and are modeling that recovery by being successful with their own sobriety. 

How might accessing this support be considered a coping strategy? The clients that choose to have a Parent Partner often tell me that they like the peer support and find having someone that they can relate to helpful. According to Markoulakis & Levitt (2018), peer support providers serve as motivating models of recovery. Therefore, it comes to no surprise that my clients often report that witnessing their Parent Partner live a sober lifestyle is motivation for them to get sober and maintain their own sobriety. They have reported attending recovery meetings with the Parent Partner, working on recovery assignments, engaging in self care practices as well as being able to spend sober time with them. Overall, I believe this to be beneficial and I would consider this to be coping strategies because it helps with clients maintaining their sobriety. 

  Reference

Markoulakis, R., & Levitt, A. (2018). Exploring peer support needs of caregivers for youth with mental illness or addictions concerns in family navigation services. Community Mental Health Journal, 54(5), 555–561. http://library.capella.edu/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/1964912336?pq-origsite=

Nikki

Discuss your perspective about how receiving or offering peer support could be helpful in the recovery process. How might accessing this support be considered a coping strategy?

Describe how you might incorporate peer support strategies into group lesson planning. Peer support is an important part of the recovery process. To an individual in recovery, having peer support would empower the individual to actively participate in the recovery process (Stanojlović & Davidson, 2021). Having peer support will help the individual navigate their emotions and physical changes related to the recovery process from someone who has already had those same experiences (Stanojlović & Davidson, 2021). The alliance that would develop between the individual and the peer support team/person would allow the individual to remove some of the shame and stigmatization related to addiction and the recovery process (Stanojlović & Davidson, 2021). As a support/coping strategy, having the support of peers who the individual can relate to on a personal level and develop comfort will help develop healthy coping strategies (Stanojlović & Davidson, 2021). Peer support would allow the individual in recovery to feel and experience things in a safe environment. Incorporating peer support in the group lesson planning will allow individuals in recovery to have support from the local community and set them up for the best chance at recovery (Stanojlović & Davidson, 2021). 

References

Stanojlović, M., & Davidson, L. (2021). Targeting the Barriers in the Substance Use Disorder Continuum of Care With Peer Recovery Support. SAGE Publications. 10.1177/1178221820976988

• Personal Reflection Notes Chapter 3
• Annie's Anxiety-Navigating Models, Assessments, and Systemic Perspectives for Understanding
• Discussion 2
• Self Assessment Journal Entry
• Case Scenario Eve
• Fostering Communication and Empathy
• Letter to Addiction Facility Director
• Self-Care for Families Struggling with Addiction Introduction
• Perspective on Self-care
• Interventions