Why Couples Therapy Is Important for Addiction Recovery

Addiction affects every single part of your life. When someone struggles with mental health and addiction, they may find themselves isolated from their loved ones. All relationships are affected by addiction, especially romantic ones. This said, it is important to understand that couples therapy can be an integral part of addiction recovery. At West Coast Recovery Centers, we believe that working with your loved ones is important in maintaining your sobriety and well-being. Your support team and the people you keep around you are important for your recovery success and overall well-being once you leave treatment.

Understanding how your environment and relationships can affect your sobriety allows you to control the factors of your life that might tempt you back to substance use. Couples therapy allows people to work through underlying issues and work to create a plan that will work to keep the client in recovery. Having support is essential as you work through recovery and change your life to maintain this new lifestyle. Knowing that you have a good team of loved ones behind you makes the difficulties of sobriety easier. 

What Is Couples Therapy?

Couples therapy is a type of talk therapy modality where the partners in a romantic relationship work together with a therapist. Most of the time, this type of therapy assists couples in working through underlying problems with the help of a nonpartial third party. Working through disagreements with a therapist allows you to find a way to conclude without fighting or getting caught up in frustration. Meanwhile, this makes couples therapy especially valuable for partners to safety plan together and prevent future conflict as one partner returns home from treatment. 

Oftentimes romantic relationships struggle when one member is struggling with addiction. According to Addictive Behaviors, drug use in relationships can lead to low marital satisfaction as it often causes issues between spouses. Addiction can cause someone to isolate and also act in ways that they wouldn't normally. This isolation and behavior can push you away from your loved ones. Meanwhile, with the help of couples therapy, two individuals can work together to process challenging situations and circumstances like these that surface throughout treatment and recovery.

Addiction and Interpersonal Relationships

Sometimes addiction can cause frustrations in interpersonal relationships. Your significant other, friend, or family member may experience anger at your choices or your addiction. At times, it is also difficult for loved ones to understand the complexity of addiction. Loved ones may become frustrated that sometimes you can't stop when you want, or they may not understand the reasons that you use. It is important to involve your loved ones and support team in your treatment so that they can learn alongside you.

Further, interpersonal relationships play a large role in the addiction recovery journey. The people that you choose to spend your time with affect your recovery journey. If someone around you is not supportive of your sobriety, they are not a good choice for your support team. The people who will uplift you throughout the highs and lows of your journey are important for your long-term well-being. 

If you spend time around others who use or people who have used with you in the past, it can be difficult to stay clean when you are stressed. When you get out of treatment, it is important to do things and go places that uphold your new values and focus. Having loved ones around you that will support you in this is vital to your long-term success. Romantic relationships are especially integral to long-term success. 

Couples Therapy in Addiction Recovery Treatment

At West Coast Recovery Centers, we offer many different types of therapy for our clients. A combination of different types of individual therapy and group therapy helps to give you all the coping skills that you need. When we offer different forms of therapy to our clients, we can build a treatment plan that best suits each client. Romantic relationships and partnerships are incredibly important to an individual's life. This is why couples therapy can be integral in your treatment. 

A couples therapist will provide you the ability to work through underlying issues and come to an understanding. When you first start your sobriety journey, things can be difficult. Couple therapy gives you the possibility for a clean slate in your relationship. Sobriety is a big undertaking for any person, and having the support of your partner is imperative for your success and the success of your relationship.

Couples therapy can also give your partner an understanding of your struggles that they wouldn't have otherwise. A therapist can explain the intricacies of addiction and how it affects the mind and body. This will give your partner better tools to help you, and resources for them as well. Being prepared and educated allows our clients and their partners the best chances of securing lasting sobriety and recovery, together. 

Relationships are incredibly important to our lives and journeys. A romantic relationship can be integral when you are getting into the difficult first stages of recovery. Addiction can cause issues for people in relationships, due to isolation or due to people not understanding the intensity of addiction. Couples therapy allows you to work with your partner to understand your addiction. It also allows you to work together to make a plan that will lead you to the greatest success. If your partner is on the same page as you in recovery, it will help you as you work through the difficulties of it. To learn more about how couples therapy in recovery, call West Coast Recovery Centers at (760) 492-6509.