Relationship Sanity

Many of our residents have severely damaged their personal relationships while active in their disease. At times, they have blamed or labeled those who are trying to get them help as the reason they drink or use drugs. This mentality—that other people are to blame—can permit the resident to avoid looking at his own behavior. Often a resident is in an intimate relationship that is detrimental to his chances in recovery.

Our work in this area begins with the families of our residents. We will work with them to improve the support system of our resident from one of enabling to one of supporting life choices that are conducive to his recovery. Next, we work with the resident to break the expectations he has placed on the people in his life. He will come to see that his anger and resentment are a product of his own fears. Once the resident internalizes that his troubles have been of his own making, he has then begun to free himself of the repetitive ways he has harmed those in his life. We teach each resident how to apply spiritual principles in every relationship, including intimate ones.