Family Psychoeducation Therapy At Bedrock Recovery Center

At Bedrock, we encourage supportive family members to take an active role in their loved one’s recovery. One opportunity to do so is through participating in family psychoeducation therapy sessions.

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Family psychoeducation (FPE) therapy is one of the evidence-based treatment options offered at Bedrock Recovery Center that may be part of your personalized treatment plan. This form of therapy is helpful for people with substance use disorders, mental health disorders, or co-occurring disorders, engaging their loved ones in their recovery.

In FPE therapy, your family members are educated on your specific condition, grow in their understanding of what you are facing, and learn critical tools for building and maintaining healthy family relationships. In some cases, these sessions will be for your loved ones only, while in other cases, you will participate alongside your family members.

Family psychoeducation is proven to help people maintain recovery, reducing the risk of relapse and the need for further treatment. People living with family members due to their condition or for other reasons may find this treatment option to be especially beneficial.

Structural family therapy sessions at Bedrock may also be an appropriate option, focusing more on addressing beliefs held by family members and associated behaviors or ways of interacting to provide positive outcomes.

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Key Aspects Of FPE Therapy

At Bedrock, family psychoeducation therapy sessions are provided virtually, which often makes it easier for family members or life partners to participate. Your primary clinician will help determine whether your participation in these sessions will aid in your recovery.

Shares Information

Just as learning about your substance use or mental health disorder during treatment will help you in your recovery, the same knowledge will help your family understand what you’re going through and provide support.

If you’re facing addiction, for example, this will include basic education on addiction, including that it is a mental health disorder, not a result of a lack of willpower or a sign of weakness. It will also involve learning about triggers, healthy coping skills, medication use (if applicable), signs of a relapse, and other information helpful in supporting your recovery.

Develops Social Support

Through this education, FPE therapy can help your loved ones become more and better supportive of you. Understanding what you are experiencing builds the foundation for empathy, and empathy leads to stronger feelings of connection and deeper relationships. This can be very healing at a time when you and your loved ones need it most, as untreated mental illness and addiction can wreak havoc on relationships.

Your family may also be able to help with the practical aspects of your recovery once you leave Bedrock, such as reminding you to take your medication every day or helping you get to therapy appointments or support meetings.

Builds Key Skills

Finally, FPE therapy involves developing healthy relationship skills, such as building and strengthening communication skills and learning how to set and respect boundaries. Stress-management skills, problem-solving skills, and other skills that are particularly useful during recovery may also be taught.

Applications For Family Psychoeducation

Family psychoeducation was developed in response to the growing recognition that family involvement in treatment is often critical for a person’s recovery. More specifically, studies showed that people with schizophrenia tended to relapse more often when their family environment was critical, hostile, or overinvolved. However, this type of family response could be seen as normal when dealing with a loved one whose mental health disorder isn’t understood.

In addition to being helpful to people in recovery from psychotic disorders, FPE therapy can also help people with mood disorders such as depression or bipolar disorder, substance use disorder (SUD), and SUD and co-occurring mental illness, also called dual diagnosis.

Evidence For The Efficacy Of FPE Therapy

Although the most amount of research has been done on the benefits of family psychoeducation for recovery from schizophrenia and severe mental illness (SMI), FPE is also considered proven-effective in treating drug and alcohol addiction. In addition to improving treatment outcomes, FPE for addiction has been shown to reduce returns to substance use and to enhance the entire family’s functioning and well-being, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

Family psychoeducation can also be helpful in the treatment of depression and other mental health disorders as well as dual diagnoses.

Learn About BRC’s Residential Programs

If you or a loved one is experiencing symptoms of addiction or another mental health disorder, the compassionate care team at BRC can help. Call us today to learn about our multidisciplinary approach to recovery.

  1. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality https://integrationacademy.ahrq.gov/news-and-events/calendar/event/20076/
  2. American Psychological Association (APA) https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1997-97498-011/
  3. Commonwealth of Massachusetts https://www.mass.gov/doc/module-6-social-support-0/download/
  4. Minnesota Department of Human Services https://www.dhs.state.mn.us/main/idcplg?IdcService=GET_DYNAMIC_CONVERSION&RevisionSelectionMethod=LatestReleased&dDocName=DHS-283283#:~:text=Family%20psychoeducation%20services%20are%20planned,health%20and%20long-term%20resilience./
  5. National Association for Children of Addiction https://nacoa.org/addiction-and-the-family-systems-model/
  6. National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) https://nida.nih.gov/publications/drugs-brains-behavior-science-addiction/treatment-recovery/
  7. National Library of Medicine: Bookshelf https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK470241/
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  10. National Library of Medicine: PubMed https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22283383/
  11. National Library of Medicine: PubMed https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2856126/
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  13. National Library of Medicine: PubMed https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3725219/
  14. North Carolina Evidence-Based Practices Center https://www.ncebpcenter.org/family-psychoeducation/
  15. Science Direct https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1021949813001026/
  16. Social Work Helper https://swhelper.org/2022/09/07/what-is-family-psychoeducation-therapy/
  17. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) https://store.samhsa.gov/sites/default/files/SAMHSA_Digital_Download/PEP20-02-02-012-508%20PDF.pdf/
  18. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) https://store.samhsa.gov/sites/default/files/PEP20-02-02-014.pdf/

Written by Bedrock Recovery Center Editorial Team

Updated on: July 8, 2024

© 2024 Bedrock Recovery Center | All Rights Reserved

* This page does not provide medical advice.

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