For families of people in addiction, telling their stories can be a part of the healing process

Addiction treatment providers around the region say involving families in a patient’s treatment can also help the family unit recover.

Dana Henderson doesn’t often tell the story of his recovery.

It’s partially that Henderson, 38, of Summit, N.J. — now an intake nurse at a Recovery Centers of America addiction treatment facility — doesn’t like to draw attention to himself. It’s partially that he still isn’t sure how to tell the story of how he developed, and eventually recovered from, an addiction to the prescription medication Adderall that began in his early 20s.

But last year, when his mother, Linda Henderson, began writing down her recollections of the difficult years he spent in and out of addiction, Dana knew that process was how his mother started to heal.

The Hendersons’ different approaches to their stories show how differently patients and their families can experience addiction treatment and recovery — how what’s therapeutic for one family member may not be part of the process for another. Addiction treatment providers around the region say involving families in a patient’s treatment can also help the family unit recover.

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