Someone who has publicly lived his life and shared his struggles is the actor Michael J. Fox, famous for his role in “Family Ties.” Going through early onset Parkinson’s disease, he has expressed many times how he could not have managed this trying time in his life without his family. He once said, “Family is not an important thing. It’s everything.” Just as the family is important, so too are a family’s deeply held values. This is especially true when it comes to recovery.
Struggles with mental health do not just affect the individual, but they affect the entire family as well. That is why in treating mental health, it is important to treat the entire family unit. This is important because when the individual gets better, they will return home. If the family is still affected and suffering, this will limit the future growth of that individual.
Here at Clearview Girls Academy, we aim to heal the entire family. We feel that one of the first steps in doing that is to create a set of family values that the whole family can agree upon. It is this set of family values that can keep a family growing in times of prosperity and unified in times of struggle. Values truly are the foundation of a healthy family.
Personalize: Defining Your Own Family’s Values
Just as no individual is the same, neither is any family. There is no “keeping up with the Joneses” when it comes to family values. A family must choose what is best for them. The family must choose values that define who they are, and more importantly, who they want to become.
We encourage any family in need of help or interested in recovery to check out our worksheet on family values which is located on our website. This worksheet can assist you in generating the family values that are best for you.
Here are a just few tips on determining which way your family values may lie. Are you a religious-based family? Perhaps many of your values will be derived from your chosen scriptures. Do you highlight being disciplined over less structured forms of problem-solving? Then your value should focus more on the former than the latter.
If as a family, you prefer to have a more neatly structured setting, that is the right choice. Do you know why that is the right choice? Because it is your family that chose it! Your family values are exactly that – yours! No one can define them but you, and as long as they do not cause harm to you or others, then they are correct.
Recovering Your Family Values
When someone in the family is struggling with issues of mental health, it is not surprising that family values can become diminished and go by the wayside. Mental health struggles can consume all of the attention and energy a family has. This is why it is so important for everyone to get help in recovery.
Yes, it will be your daughter who joins us at the recovery center in Montana, but it will be the entire family that must take the recovery journey. Once your daughter begins her program of recovery, we can then bring the family into the recovery process. This will aid not just in your daughter’s recovery while she is with us, but ensure long-term recovery when she leaves.
While your daughter is here with us, she will learn to reconnect with herself and begin to create her own set of values. These values can then merge with the established or reestablished values that you have also created as a family. Values become more important when shared with those we care about most.
Maintaining Family Values for the Long Term
While establishing set family values is a crucial step, they become hollow if they are not adhered to. It is easy to say you will abide by something, but it is something altogether to act upon it.
These are why we help families acquire the emotional and behavioral tools they need to maintain their chosen family values. These tools may come in the form of family therapy. Having a safe space to express yourself as a family can be crucial in better understanding how the entire family feels and what the entire family needs.
We also know that recovery can also work as a form of osmosis. When your daughter begins to recover, you too will feel the weight of all those family struggles begin to lift. On the other side of the coin, when your daughter sees how well the entire family is progressing, she will see how she now has partners to grow along with in her journey.
When asked how he feels about being the face of Parkinson’s disease Micheal J. Fox responded “I don’t look at myself as a leader. I do look at myself as part of a community.” That is also what we are as a family. We are not individual leaders. As a family, we are a community that leads together toward success.
Creating a list of family values can help shape expectations when it comes to recovery. If a child is struggling with mental health issues, it can affect the whole family. This is why it is so important to get the entire family involved with recovery. By creating established values, a family can better align themselves with each other’s wants and needs. These values also help keep all family members accountable. Struggles with mental health do not have to ravage your family’s well-being. There is a solution, but it begins by reaching out for help. If your family is struggling, we are here for you. Let’s begin this journey together. Please call Clearview Girls Academy today at (888) 796-5484 for more information.
