Family and Friends in Treatment

Family and friends can be incredibly helpful resources in treatment if the client has a good relationship with them. As mentioned in Chapter 1, if the client has strained relationships with a certain family member or friend, it may not be wise to include that person if his or her participation threatens the client. In other instances, the client simply may not want the person to be involved. Therapists and clients should make certain that the client does want family members and friends involved prior to a therapists or counselors contacting them. Ethically speaking, it is important to respect the wishes of your client with regard to collateral involvement in therapy or treatment. Legally speaking, it is important for consent to be provided by the client for a therapist or counselor to speak with collaterals or to involve them in the therapy process. 

If the client consents to involvement of family or friends, they can be good sources for information that can help you devise a thoughtful treatment plan. As mentioned earlier in this chapter, people with drug problems may have relationship stressors that need to be addressed in order to promote a successful treatment outcome. Being able to gather information from partners or friends about the nature of these stressors adds another dimension to understanding the source and treatment for the problems. Sometimes a family member or friend has a different view on the nature of a problem or on the behavior pattern related to a problem that may help you better understand how to treat it. 

Furthermore, if family involvement is important for the client, then family input and commitment to the treatment plan may help make treatment a success. 

Family involvement may be essential when conducting therapy or treatment with a minority client. If the family members have aided in the development of a treatment plan by providing helpful information, and understand the rationale behind the treatment plan, then they are more likely to support treatment as it unfolds. Again, this should be done only with the consent of the client, but it can be incredibly helpful to have collateral support for the treatment plan if the client consents to their active involvement. 

Treatment plans are a first step toward getting collaterals interested in treatment. One problem that I have seen while working with some clients is that although they would like their families involved, their family members feel somewhat excluded by the way treatment works. In many cases, what happens in therapy and treatment is more of a mystery to family and friends than it is to a client. Family and friends feel left out if not actively invited to participate by therapists or counselors (when the client assents to such participation), and if not adequately educated about what treatment entails. Family and close friends should be oriented to treatment in the same way as are clients. Involvement in treatment planning can be a way to orient family and close friends as well as to gather helpful information about the client and his or her world. If collaterals understand treatment better, then they will be more likely to support it. 

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