CHANGE
BEGINS
WITH YOU.
Family Dynamics
Whether the challenge is addiction or mental health it is called a “family disease” because everyone is affected. Recovery is stronger when everyone is speaking the same language and has a clear understanding of their own path forward with healthy boundaries and clear communications. Much of the time these things feel like obstacles because sometimes family members have fear, frustration, shame and the like. When we focus on what we can control, which is our own behavior, empowerment becomes our driving force for creating our own change, thus helping to create change for the family system.
Enabling versus Helping
While we may feel we have our loved one’s best interests at heart, often without realizing it, we are in an enabling role because we are worried and fearful for our loved ones wellness and success. Enabling is when we do for others what they can do for themselves. Helping is when we do for others what they cannot do for themselves. While this may seem antithetical to all we know, it is with this realization of our own role that we can begin to shift, and parent mentoring can help.
Services and Opportunities for Family Members
Bridge The Gap Services offers wrap around mentoring which is a way for all family members to get the support and education they need to make shifts in the roles they have been (sometimes unknowingly) taking on. We tailor to each family’s needs depending on the acuity of the situation. Most commonly, this is a scheduled daily phone check-in, weekly family therapy and a weekly support group.
Our Bi-Weekly Support Group is a safe and confidential solution focused group. It is a place for members to share their feelings, ask questions and express concerns. The facilitators and other members offer feedback that comes from their own experience, strength and hope. We keep the focus on offering productive coping tools and strategies to help family members built their tool box to draw upon for their own self-care, fostering change. All are welcome to our support group and it is free of charge. The support group is held the 1st and 3rd Tuesday of each month on a zoom platform. Please reach out to us for the zoom information.
Daily Mentoring Check Ins offer support for establishing new boundaries with self and loved ones that can be difficult to establish in the beginning. Often self-care for family members is challenging because the focus has been on their loved one’s wellness. Self-care includes everything from physical self-care to setting healthy boundaries.
Many feelings can come up when we are shifting away from behaviors we are used to. It is important to have measurable goals so we can be confident desired outcomes are being achieved. At the outset, everyone will be involved in the psycho-education of the family situation and measurable goals will be set, both immediate and long term. This kind of wrap around service ensures the most optimal success when everyone is learning and shifting. This often takes place the first and/or second month of a client’s enrollment with us and is tapered down in month two or three depending on the needs of the family members.
TELEMENTORING
Bridge The Gap Services offers individuals that are unable to regularly meet face to face with telementoring services. Telementoring is designed to provide support, structure, and accountability to individuals in the comfort of their own homes. This convenient mentoring platform provides individuals and their families with the flexibility of incorporating support into their daily routines. Bridge The Gap Services is committed to providing therapeutic mentoring services to all with a desire to receive support.
