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One of the keys to our success in recovery is rebuilding healthy family relationships. Back2Basics has recognized this and as a core component of the program, B2B hosts a Family Weekend. This is an event that occurs essentially when a client has been in the B2B program for a minimum of 3 months and their family travels to Flagstaff for a weekend of therapy and time spent together. B2B is really good about providing a safe and healthy platform for any unresolved issues, resentments and confessions. Because everyone starts Back2Basics at different times, there is a family weekend scheduled each month.
For my family weekend I was both excited and nervous for the events to take place. Seeing their reaction when they first walked into the house was something I will always remember. I could see how proud they were of me and how much healthier I looked compared to when they last saw me 3 months ago.
I feel like I was able to gain a tremendous amount of progress in rebuilding and mending my relationship with my parents. My father and I have never been able to communicate very well. Partly due to our similar characteristics and our stubbornness. We were able to open up and identify how we each felt from both our perspectives. It helped a lot to share how I’ve interpreted him in the past because of his intentions always were out of caring, but he never realized the expectations that I felt were being put on me as a result. I was also able to tell both of my parents about my progression of addiction in an open and honest format, which I think helped them to understand everything from what I had gone through. My parents are very naive about this disease of addiction and I think hearing other people’s stories and perspectives from other parents as well, has helped them feel less alone. It helped educate them on this disease.
Overall, I feel like a lot of building blocks were set in place to rebuilding a healthy relationship between my parents and myself over the course of the weekend. This weekend was instrumental in setting the foundation for me to start work on this part of my life so that when I finish here, I can create a long-term healthy relationship with them.
Austin – Client at B2B