According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, more than 20 million people suffer from addiction and less than ten percent actually seek treatment.
13WMAZ's Jennifer Moulliet sat down with one counselor to explore how family counseling could help quit an addiction.
Steve Jones, a Certified Addiction Counselor at River Edge, answered this question sent in by one of our viewers: "Where can parents of addicts go to get help?"
"Part of what we do at River Edge is we offer family education once a week at several of our facilities. I, for instance, work out of the crisis stabilization unit, I do a family education group out there once a week, and I do one at the Billingsley Recovery Residence once a week. We also have one available for family members at our outpatient service down on Emery Highway once a week. You have to be a patient in order for families to be involved with River Edge's education group due to confidentiality laws," explains Jones.
"How does addiction affect those family members?"
"Addiction affects family members in a lot of different ways. It affects the individual physically, emotionally, and spiritually. The addict, the alcoholic, and a lot of times, you'll find that it affects the family members in much the same way. The sad part about that is family members don't necessarily have to be a part of the drinking or using to be a part of the addiction. Sometimes they have to compete with alcohol, cocaine, or other drugs for a family member's love, and most of the time, the alcohol and the drugs win out. That's where the problems lie, that's where the family members need help. That's why we try to include the family members in the treatment plan when our patients are admitted to our units," says Jones.
"And what are some of the results of the parents that have received this treatment at your facility?"
"Well, most follow up with our outpatient groups either Al-Anon, AA, NA, and when the whole family gets involved with these things, you'll find that the recovery process is slow, but it takes place. It has its benefits doing it as opposed to not doing those things," explains Jones.
For more information on addiction meetings in your area visit http://www.ga-al-anon.org for Al-Anon meeting information in Central Georgia.
Visit http://www.aageorgia.org/ to find an AA meeting in your city.
Visit http://portaltools.na.org to find Narcotics Anonymous meetings in your area.
If you have a question you'd like us to get answers, let us know. We could feature your question on 13WMAZ Eyewitness News.