Lesson 30: Family and Addiction: Slide 21
Families Strive To Create Stability
- Each family creates its own balance to achieve stability
- As long as members interact in certain familiar and predictable ways, this balance is not upset
- An unhealthy family maintains an illusion of stability as long as:
- No one attempts to separate
- Everyone follows the same family rules
- Everyone has a role in the family to perpetuate the unhealthy family system
- An example of roles may include “Dad drinks, mom plays the supportive wife, and children play the parents”
Notes:
Galvin, K.M. & Brommel, B.J., 1999, “Family communications: Cohesion and change” (5th Ed.), Addison-Wesley, New York.
Boudreau, Richard J. Addiction and the Family , From: Alcohol and Drug Problems: A Practical Guide for Counselors. Howard, Harrison, Carver, and Lightfoot (Eds.) Toronto: Addiction Research Foundation, 1993. Pg. 333-340