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“Family Therapy” is known to be the best form of therapy when dealing with a person who has Substance Abuse Disorder. “Family Therapy” sets the record for being the best type of therapy for a patient with Substance abuse Disorder/Alcoholism. Families provide valuable collateral information, that adds to the probability of the substance abuser finding their way to “recovery”. The other piece and reason why I wanted to go into this profession was to lend support and educate families how they can help their loved one who has a Substance Abuse Disorder. I educate families how to lend support to their loved one while I navigate through this problem with the substance abuser in a private session. I help the substance abuser/alcoholic use other modalities in addition to Family Therapy to increase their chances of remaining “in recovery”.

I realized that Substance Abuse Disorder can and does rear its ugly head when working with all different populations. They may come in for something else, but they also may be in bad shape psychologically and in part due to a substance abuse disorder that they are not owning because they do not know they have that diagnosis. Substance abusers may be presenting with another disorder as well. Many other disorders can occur at the same time and we refer to them as having a comorbidity with substance abuse disorder.

It was evident that substance abuse was rampant, not only with my couples, but also with many of my individual patients who came in with mood disorders or just came to therapy to cope with their confusion regarding their job or lack of a job; and who also presented with symptoms of substance abuse. Still others chose to see a therapist simply to vent to an unbiased professional. While venting, I always ask questions regarding how much they drink, when they drink, and/or ask about whether they are smoking weed or using any other substances. The population who seeks me out for therapy are coming in for many different issues. The numbers of substance abusers/alcoholics that make their way into my office is staggering. I am amazed how many people are uneducated about a disease referred to as “Substance Abuse Disorder”/Alcoholism in The DSM-V. It further amazed me that so many people were ruining their relationships, being fired from their job or dropping out of school due to a disease about which they were clueless. The people who are presenting with symptoms of this disease often do not take responsibility for bringing so much chaos into their lives.

Some level of conflict is unavoidable in group situations, and families are no different. With each person in the family dealing with their own stresses, arguments and disagreements can often occur. It’s when this becomes a problem that family therapy may be necessary. Cognitive family therapy can take many different forms. In some cases, where the friction is between just a few family members, it might be quite small. In others, it can involve multiple generations and even family friends. Because each family is unique, treatment cannot be uniform.

In family therapy, the therapist and the patient(s) will work together to decide how best to address the problem. Whatever the case, the goal will be to try and improve communication between the affected parties, so that each person can understand why his or her actions may be hurtful. From here, they can learn to change their behavior and end family discord. Contact us if your family thinks that it will benefit from therapy. At Riverdale Therapy & Counseling Services happiness is possible for every family. For the best Family Counseling in The Bronx, NY, call and come visit us today!