What to Expect When Your Partner Completes Addiction Treatment

Published On: November 17, 2017|Categories: Addiction Treatment|524 words|2.6 min read|
Treatment will help your partner recover from an addiction, but there are things you can do to improve the outcome. Here's what to expect after treatment.

When your partner enters treatment for a drug or alcohol addiction, feelings of relief and newfound hope for a happier, brighter future prevail.

Still, you may have feelings of uncertainty. Will treatment work? What if it doesn’t? How will life be different once your partner completes treatment? How will your partner be different? What will your relationship be like?

These are common questions. By the time you’re done reading this, you’ll have some answers, along with some essential tips for supporting your partner in recovery.

Addiction Is a Family Disease

Before we can talk about what to expect when your partner completes addiction treatment, it’s important to talk about how addiction affects the family unit and what you can do while your partner is in treatment to improve their chances of successful recovery.

Addiction is a family disease, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.Addiction causes dysfunction in the family system and reduces the stability and safety of the home. It affects the family’s mental health, finances, stress level, unity and the overall functioning of the family unit.

Unsettling or frightening experiences, periods of chaos and the chronic stress that come with addiction affect every member of the family. You may have bent reality or lived in denial in an attempt to maintain some sense of order in the home, even as you felt order slipping away. Addiction and the dysfunction that comes with it can absorb the family system as the problem seems to spiral out of control. You’re left with feelings of fear, anger, helplessness and hopelessness.

A New Sense of Hope

Now that your partner is getting help, hope has returned—and for good reason. Most people who engage in treatment successfully recover from addiction.2 However, the treatment outcome for your partner depends, in part, on:

  • The extent and nature of their problems and needs
  • Whether the treatment program is appropriate for addressing those problems and needs
  • The quality of the interactions between your partner and their treatment providers

Research shows that treatment lasting less than 90 days is of limited effectiveness, and an inpatient program is best for those with a severe addiction, a long history of addiction or a co-occurring mental illness. The more engaged your partner is in their treatment plan, the better their chances of successful long-term recovery. A high-quality treatment program that takes a holistic, individualized approach to treatment offers the best possible outcomes.

But treatment itself is only part of the equation for successful recovery. The other part of the equation involves the four pillars or recovery, as identified by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration:3

  • A high level of support at home
  • A safe and stable living environment
  • Purpose in life
  • Good physical and mental health

Learning the best ways to support your partner after treatment is a major factor for success, and what you do while your partner is in treatment makes a big difference…

References:

Related Posts

  • Sad man drinking beer on a bar

    What Is Reverse Tolerance and Why Does It Matter in Recovery? 

    656 words|3.3 min read|
  • The mid adult female doctor points as she corrects the mid adult woman filling the syringe. The mid adult husband is watching quietly.

    Choosing the Right Medication-Assisted Treatment

    896 words|4.5 min read|
  • Request for Fentanyl drug test abstract

    How Long Does Fentanyl Stay in Your System?

    1022 words|5.1 min read|
  • Dark-skinned tired brunette man touches face. Young bearded curly guy b black long-sleeved t-shirt looks into camera.

    What is Post-Acute Withdrawal Syndrome (PAWS)? 

    830 words|4.2 min read|
Healthy Ways to Cope With DivorceHealthy Ways to Cope With Divorce
Stages of Grief and Substance AbuseStages of Grief and Substance Abuse