Categorie: Sober living

When it was triggered, which often occurred in his family relationships, he immediately withdrew. Blind to the phantom of addiction I was battling, I threw my executive skills at him. Analyzing his behavior, formulating a plan to save our relationship, and executing my strategy, all to no avail. It was exhausting and a perfect recipe for further enmeshment. It was an emotional cat and mouse game more than a relationship. Many books address the challenges of an individual getting sober from substance use disorders.

Getting sober was indeed necessary to address the problems in my relationship but it wasn’t a cure-all. I’d done too much damage in those four years that marriage after sobriety we were together before I stopped drinking. I was, quite honestly, devastated that I didn’t know how to fix my relationship even as a sober woman.

Interview with Chantal Jauvin, author “Love Without Martinis.”

There are still challenges ahead, but understanding the potential pitfalls can help spouses work together to overcome them. I’ve spent the last six years researching and understanding alcoholism, addiction, and how people get sober. When I’m not writing about sobriety and mental health, I’m fully living in my role as wife, mama, and SEO badass. When one partner is an active addict, a healthy marriage or relationship is virtually impossible.

When we aren’t posting here, we build programs to help people quit drinking. When we aren’t posting here, we build programs to help people quit drinking. About nine months later, staring down the hallway into my son’s room, I had a moment of clarity. Sometimes people discover who they really are in recovery and grow apart. Others find the burden is too heavy and decide to end their relationships.

The Don’ts of Dealing with an Addicted Spouse

My wife, on the other hand, was incapable of forgiveness because my apologies were so meaningless. They festered and metastasized and wreaked havoc on our marriage. The past had come back for vengeance on the present, and the only way forward for my relationship was to fully resurrect the pain and tell my wife how sorry I was all over again. We argued in sobriety just like we argued when I drank.

Of course, even in intimate relationships that work well, there are times of much closeness and vulnerability, and times of more distance. Many of us equate intimacy with sex in the belief that an intimate relationship is, necessarily, a sexual one. The promiscuity and “sexual freedom” of recent years was caused partly by this false belief. Searching for the closeness of an intimate relationship, many people try to make it happen by having sex, before building a close relationship with the partner. This approach never works because it only creates the illusion of intimacy which soon fades, leaving the partners feeling frustrated and deprived.

Do’s and Don’ts for Helping Your Addicted Spouse

Family therapy – Family therapy can help you repair the damage addiction has caused to your relationship and learn how to communicate effectively. Detox – Detox can help you safely and effectively withdraw from drugs and alcohol. Contact friends and family members and make a commitment to spend quality time with them. Their addiction likely didn’t give you much time to do things you enjoyed.

• Balance, sobriety, health and a mindful approach for a lasting recovery.
• We retreated to the place we knew so well at the first sign of irritability or frustration.
• Sometimes, they even get much better than they were before addiction became a problem.
• There are going to be battles ahead of you, and intense emotions and pains will re-emerge.
• At least once a month, go out to dinner or participate in a fun activity together.

Lastly, think about recovery as a family project. You’ll find there are helpful programs for the partners of recovering addicts and your children, too. Al-Anon, for instance, helps families of alcoholics with a program that’s similar to the 12 steps of AA. You may find other programs at your local church or through your therapist’s office. Addiction can be one of the most difficult situations a married couple faces. Living with an addicted spouse can be so difficult many marriages end in separation or divorce if the person struggling with addiction doesn’t get treatment.

How Quickly Does The Liver Heal After You Quit Drinking?

We cater to midlife in order to focus treatment on the unique needs of an established adult who is struggling with addiction. In order to heal as both individuals and as a couple, here are some tips to consider when trying to repair a marriage after substance abuse treatment. Being patient will be key in getting your marriage back on track, whether you’re living with an alcoholic/drug addict in recovery or you are an alcoholic/drug addict in recovery. Instead, it’s best to treat the marriage as a new relationship. Get to know the “new” version of your spouse (or help your spouse become acquainted with the “new” you). Patiently work on rebuilding communication, trust, support, respect, and intimacy. Both will have to learn how to speak to each other all over again.

I’ve grown so much, but he doesn’t think he needs to change anything. Casa Palmera gave me a second chance at “Living the Life” I’ve always wanted. Balance, sobriety, health and a mindful approach for a lasting recovery. With sobriety comes clarity about life—it can be lived to the fullest, and that means couples can enjoy their relationships to the fullest, too. Marriages can survive sobriety—and not just survive, but thrive. The work required for me to recover from alcoholism was monumental, but it paled in comparison to the work we’ve done to recover our marriage.

We accept insurance and can arrange for transportation to and from treatment. Abuse of alcohol or drugs is the No. 3 reason cited by women in divorces. Couples who have one person who heavily uses alcohol and another who does not are more likely to divorce than couples who both heavily use alcohol.