Anyone can tell you what makes a family physically healthy—good food, regular exercise and quality sleep. But what makes a family mentally healthy?
Psychiatrist William Glasser, author of “Counseling with Choice Therapy,” set out to answer that question and came up with eight “connecting” behaviors to seek out and eight more “disconnecting” behaviors to avoid.
If your loved one is in rehab, that makes this a great time for the rest of the family to work on developing these healthy habits and practices.
8 Habits of Mentally Healthy Families
Have you ever noticed how some people save their best behavior for friends and acquaintances and unload on their loved ones? That’s destructive—and definitely not OK.
Here are the connecting habits that we should all work to cultivate in our own families:
- Caring
- Listening
- Supporting
- Encouraging
- Respecting
- Trusting
- Accepting
- Befriending
The 8 Deadly Sins of Family Life
Those connecting habits build strong families, while the following disconnecting habits can destroy families and chip away at a family’s emotional health:
- Nagging
- Withdrawing
- Blaming
- Punishing
- Complaining
- Rewarding
- Criticizing
- Threatening
Healthy Family Habits and Your Loved One’s Recovery
Addiction can throw even the most positive person for a loop, so it’s almost inevitable that, while your loved one was using, you engaged in blaming, threatening or withdrawing.
But now everyone is starting fresh. And practicing these positive habits now should put everyone in a good position to support your loved one’s recovery when he or she finishes rehab.
Hope and Healing from Family Trauma at The Raleigh House
The Raleigh House is a residential treatment center located in Denver where your loved one can get the help he or she needs to heal and grow. Our team of experts works together to tackle the physical, psychological, mental, emotional, spiritual and social aspects of addiction, including family therapy. Fill out our form or contact us today to learn more about our drug and alcohol addiction treatment programs.
