Your family's involvement in your recovery could make or break whether or not you're able to fully kick your addiction forever. Why? Because more likely than not, some of your family's gonna be there forever. Oftentimes, addictions stem from unresolved childhood issues, but not all the time. It's important to know if this is your case or not. If you have suffered from childhood abuse or neglect, you more than likely started using substances as a way to escape the pain you deal with every day.

The first thing I want you to think about is whether or not something from your childhood may have contributed to your cocaine addiction. If it has, it's time to really work through what happened, how it happened, and who was involved. Some people can work through these issues on their own, while others may need to seek professional help from a mental health professional. Now, regardless of whether or not you have unresolved childhood trauma or abuse, it's also important to analyze your current family situation. And when I talk about family, I'm talking about Anyone who is related to you, or that has a major part in your life, your addiction has likely caused family chaos. So today, I want you to start thinking about your family into groups.

Those who support you and want you to get better, and those who are unsupportive and maybe causing you to not get better. And the first group over the next few weeks, I want you to start thinking about ways you can strengthen your relationships in an actionable way. And the second group, I want you to start thinking about ways to distance yourself until you are solid in your recovery. So how do you do this? for strengthening relationships, make a list, prioritize those most important to you at the top and then work down. next to each name I want you to write about what you can do or say every day to help get you back on track to earn their trust.

For example, let's say your husband is on the list. You might say to strengthen your relationship. You will communicate clearly every day about your success. show him how dedicated you are to your recovery by not using cocaine, and taking active steps each day towards making your recovery strong like taking this course. Let's say it's a family member that doesn't live with you, but you want to strengthen your relationship with them. For example, maybe your mom, you might make a note to call your mom four times per week to check in, be honest about where you're at with your recovery, and make a plan to visit every week so she can see exactly how far you're coming.

Now let's talk about those in the second group. Those who don't support you or those who may have made your addiction worse. If possible, it's time to take a break on your relationship with them until you're stronger and can work through the tough things that have happened. To do this, it's important to set strong boundaries. If you say something truthful yet timid, you leave room for arguing or negotiation. This process should be non negotiable.

For example, if you say, I'm really sorry, but I need some time to focus on my recovery right now. Do you mind if we take a break for a while and while I do that, if you say something like that you leave the door wide open for someone to argue against why this would be a bad idea. Instead, you should say, I am focusing on my recovery right now and I need some time and space. I will contact you when I'm ready to talk. Be firm and direct. And don't leave any room for interjections.

If they do interject them be firm again and again until they get the picture. If they still don't get the picture after about maybe three tries, then it's perfectly okay to stop the conversation. Some people have to go as far as blocking phone numbers and texts. If your family respects your decision, then you'll know that once you are stronger and further into this process, they may be someone you can reach out to a little later. If they don't respect your decision. You'll need to think long and hard as to whether or not this works relationship is worth continuing.

All right, I'll see you in the next lecture. We're going to talk about friends.