"Today we leave with a clear understanding of what is and isn't our role in our loved one's recovery. There is peace in knowing we have begun the healing process."

        When a loved one is having a problem with alcohol or drugs, everyone is affected.
        Family, friends, and significant others want to help their loved one, but may not be sure of the best way. Often, they unknowingly take on roles and ways of relating to the addict/alcoholic that not only make their own lives chaotic, but also reinforce continued chemical use - the very thing that they are trying to eradicate.
        Not understanding addiction as a disease process is one of the primary contributing factors to family members' unwittingly supporting the illness, which can be a major barrier to recovery. Family support, while not enabling further alcohol or drug use, is a crucial component of substance abuse treatment and recovery.
        "The most important thing for a family to do is to accept their limitations in being able to force a solution of change," said Alana Smith, LCSW, a family counselor at Willingway. "True change comes in the family doing the hard work to heal from how addiction has altered their thinking, feeling, and decision making."
        Special care is the cornerstone on which Willingway in Statesboro has built its reputation as one of the premier alcoholism and drug dependency treatment centers in the nation. Willingway has treated more than 20,000 patients since 1971.
        As part of that special care, Willingway offers a workshop to help families help their loved one's recovery. The four-day Family Workshop is a comprehensive program that provides:

• Extensive education on the disease of addiction
• Experiences in hope
• Family tools for recovery
• Family counseling
• Continued care planning for family members and loved ones whose lives have been impacted

        Willingway Family Workshop participants will learn how to initiate positive changes in their lives, which will encourage healing and a foundation for the recovery process.
        Family members also will gain an understanding of how accepting too much responsibility for the addict/alcoholic has not only caused pain and chaos in their own lives, but can be a barrier to their loved one's recovery. The workshop offers understanding, healing and hope for those affected by the disease of addiction.
        The Willingway Family Workshop is scheduled regularly throughout the year and is located on the main campus in Statesboro. If you think that you or someone you love needs help healing from the family illness of addiction, call (800) 242-9455 for a confidential assessment from one of Willingway's highly-trained admission coordinators.
        You may also visit: willingway.com/family-workshop for a schedule and more information.
        This article is sponsored by Willingway, which was founded in Statesboro by Dr. John and Dot Mooney in 1971. Dot and John's four children: Dr. Al J. Mooney III, Jimmy Mooney, Dr. Bobby Mooney, and Carol Lind Mooney remain on the Board of Directors and are involved in the operations of the rehab center. You can contact Willingway at (912) 764-6236 or (800) 242-9455.