Family Counseling at Overcomers

Addiction not only affects the addict, it affects the family of the addict as well. Often the damage to relationships that addiction brings can seem irreversable and a scary process to start. Being a recovering addict myself, I know how the shame and guilt can be enough to scare anyone away from dealing with the hurt that we have caused our loved ones. It seems easier and less painful to just avoid bringing it back up and working it out. Every three months here at the Overcomers Center, we have a family counseling session. We encourage all our clients to make an atttempt at getting their family to participate. I can speak from experience by saying this was the scariest time in the program for me. I didn’t want to deal with my past and all the harm I had caused, but I prayed about it and felt God was leading me to invite my family. The counseling is done in a group setting, which at first, seemed weird to me. Shortly after it started, I got to witness the communication between other families and their overcomer. I realized that they were saying things I needed to say, but couldn’t put into words. I was really able to open up to my mother, and we were able to talk out a lot of our problems. I could feel the walls coming down and our relationship starting to mend itself from that moment futher. Today my mother and I have a wonderful relationship, and I am earning her trust back more and more each day.
During our last family counseling session, I had the privaledge of sitting in and observing from a staff perspective. Next time I will remember to bring a hakercheif, because I cried just as much as if I was participating myself. I could relate, in some way, to all that was being said, and couldn’t hold back my tears as forgivness was given and accepted by both sides. Here at the Overcomers Center we believe that an addict needs a support system to suceed, and what greater asset to have than a family that understands and supports your recovery. Family conseling is a great start to mending the relationships that addiction has destroyed. Addiction does a lot of damage, but God is bigger than addiction, and can fix all things. It is truly a blessing to watch God work in the lives of the men here at the Overcomers center, and I am so thankful to be a part.