Family Support Programme

A key pillar of the Integrated Addiction Care Network of the Fundación Salud y Comunidad is work with families. Since the start of our interventions we have seen how substance use affects the whole family system, can lead to serious consequences and seep into everyday life. At the same time, the family is often the first to notice and suffer the patient’s changes in behaviour, to detect problematic use and its effects; for this reason, they often ask for guidance before the affected person does.

For this reason, in many cases we begin by seeing the families first, helping them to bring about necessary changes so that certain responses or actions do not perpetuate the substance use.

From this angle, our aim is to guide and promote changes in the family environment that break established patterns and make it easier for the patient to decide to start treatment for their drug dependence.

At the same time, our approach has a dual focus: direct support for families, aware of the personal and relational toll that these prolonged situations take. We work on relieving guilt, reviewing mistakes and reframing roles so that the problem can be tackled from more functional positions and with better emotional management.

What do we offer?

• Psychotherapeutic care: guidance and treatment sessions with a psychologist specialising in drug dependence.

• Group therapy for family members / Family group: monthly sessions of therapeutic group work with exclusive participation of family members.

What do we work on?

Through the therapeutic format we help families to reflect on boundaries, which behaviours to allow or not, how to respond to substance use, review mistakes and align criteria in the face of different ways of tackling the problem. We address challenging behaviour and teach how to take a stance when the patient refuses to start treatment, so that this resistance is transformed into a request for help.