Family Therapy with Alcohol Addiction
Family intervention is considered to be an effective treatment for alcohol use disorders (Fals-Stewart, O’ Farrell & Birchler, 2006). The level of involvement of the family in treatment is regulated by the therapist ranging from offering support to being a full partner in treatment. The focus is to offer the support of the user’s entry into treatment. The three main approaches of family therapy are:
1. Family disease approach that view alcohol use as an illness suffered not only by the alcohol user but by the whole family. The emphasis of treatment is to educate family members about co-dependency behaviour that enables the user to continue with the behaviour. The family members are made aware that their acts of “love” and “caring” may only serve to enable the substance user to continue with their alcohol abuse or dependence.
For example:
A wife who drives to the bar to go pick up her drunk husband at night as an effort to insure his safety enables him to continue the use of alcohol; A child assumes the parent role and makes dinner because mum is too intoxicated to prepare dinner; A wife covers up for her husband for not going to work because he was too drunk.