Kolmac family and friends Support group

How the groups work

Participants in the family and friends support groups can be anyone important to the patient: husband, wife, father, mother, sister, brother, other relatives, boyfriends, girlfriends and any other special/important friends.

If they matter to the person in recovery, they matter to us.

When the person in recovery matters to them, that’s ideal. They have real motivation to learn as much as they can so they can offer the most effective support possible.

Participants in friends and family groups ask and answer questions, share frustrations and setbacks, and celebrate progress, milestones, and major accomplishments. Experienced group peers offer empathy and compassion. They share what they’ve learned from their experiences to help others in the group. Topics of discussion vary by the people in attendance and depend on individual needs and interests in each session.

Speaking is not mandatory. You can share, or not. You can sit, listen, and learn. You can share what you’re comfortable sharing, and no one will ever pressure you into sharing anything you don’t want to. Here’s an interesting observation, however: the most reluctant participants in family groups often get the most out of them.

We encourage each patient to have at least one person come to family group as often as possible. 

We require young adults, defined as anyone between ages 19-25 who lives at home, to have at least one family member participate in family group sessions.

Patients and their families increase the likelihood of successful long-term recovery when everyone learns everything they can about alcohol and substance use disorders, the impact they have on the family and on relationships, and how they can work together to repair damage, restore balance, reestablish healthy lines of communication, and move forward together.