Addiction can really affect loved ones. “People in addiction
sometimes think, ‘I'm not hurting anyone,’ but you are. You're hurting everyone that loves you. That’s the goal, to repair any broken relationships that they have, to rebuild those because family support is very instrumental in recovery. And it's not what we consider family— it's what the client considers family. The family structure is no longer Mom, Dad, 2.5 children, and a dog. Now, the family structure is so much broader and wider than that.” And there’s the other side of the coin: “Unhealthy relationships you should let go of because it's about building and fostering positive, healthy relationships on your recovery journey.” She adds, “The thing about addiction—it’s a family disease; it touches every dimension of that person. Everything and everyone connected to that person is affected, and once that person starts getting healthy and healing, so do those relationships. Sometimes it's not possible, but sometimes, it is. It's just so wonderful to see families mended, relationships rebuilt, and the person rebuilding their life; it is just a wonderful thing to witness. And, you know what? The only thing you have to change is everything. And when they do, people find themselves again. You can't imagine the talents they hold. It gets pushed back because that's not their priority at that time, but once
they get clean and sober, they start going back and living those gifts and talents. You’d be amazed at the diamonds in the rough. And one of the pathways that we encourage our clients to utilize is the 12-step foundation. It works. . . millions have recovered.” When told that STAND is lucky to have her, Sonia humbly replies, “I'm the lucky one; it’s a great place to work.”
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