There are three recovery projects at MRI: The Family Recovery Project, which is in its 19th year; the Center for Couples in Recovery; and the Recovery Forum. If you are interested in learning more about the process of recovery from addictions, and if you answer yes to any of the following questions, then please refer to information on the Family Recovery Project and the Center for Couples in Recovery.
Do you want to know:
- What is addiction and recovery and what are their dynamics and processes?
- Why some individuals, couples, and/or families can maintain sobriety in recovery, and why do others relapse and may do so repeatedly? How to work with individuals, couples, and/or families who are in different addiction recovery periods.
- How to work with individuals, couples, and/or families who are in different addiction recovery periods.
- How to identify the different types of alcoholic families and which types increase the probability of maintaining recovery.
- How to normalize the recovery processes/issues and to differentiate between healthy and unhealthy "recovery problems."
- How to help individuals, couples, and/or families make sense out of what they are experiencing in sobriety.
Recovery is getting back what you have lost (yourself/your family) and reclaiming what has been stolen by the addictive processes.
A definition of family recovery is the abstinence from any addiction (pathological behaviors, beliefs, emotions, and interpersonal dynamics). It is both the relinquishment of the addictive processes and the gradual acquisition and integration of non-addictive processes that promote developmental growth at the environmental, system, and individual levels.
There are different developmental stages in recovery. Each stage has its own tasks, treatment approaches, and requirements to help tolerate abstinence and continue the recovery processes. The initial stage of recovery is very traumatic and requires significant support to tolerate the severe confusion, turmoil, and anxiety.
Why do some alcoholic families maintain recovery over the years while others relapse and relapse repeatedly? For several years, the Project researched many families by a standardized interview and a battery of tests. Analysis of the data revealed that there are 3 distinct types of alcoholic families in recovery. Indicators were observed that identified families who are successful in maintaining full recovery versus those who were likely to relapse.
In 2003, an exciting project and service evolved from the Family Recovery Project called the Center for Couples in Recovery (CCR). As a component of the Mental Research Institute, CCR is dedicated to developing research, education, training, and treatment related to couples and families in recovery from addiction. CCR's primary objective is to add information to the field of addiction recovery and treatment by integrating a research/treatment paradigm inclusive of the development of both theory and application of clinical interventions.
Dr. Robert Navarra, Clinical Director, can be reached at (650) 593-8087 or robertnavarra@sbcglobal.net for general details and referral information to the CCR.
The third and latest project is the Recovery Forum. It is a stimulating and collaborative environment for creative thinking regarding addiction and recovery, and its aim is to provide consultation, workshops, and lectures for the professional community. To this end, it is a work in progress-a think tank composed of a multidisciplinary team of clinicians dedicated to advancing the field of addiction and recovery research, treatment, education, and training. Through this collaboration and sharing of resources, ideas, support, and networking, the Recovery Forum provides a unique setting in which the exploration of addiction and recovery-related concerns may be addresses at numerous levels. The concerns include, for example, identifying key issues in addiction and recovery theories and processes; understanding current addiction theories and their limitations; articulating, brainstorming, and exploring cutting edge theories of addiction and treatment; and developing resources for addicted and recovering individuals and families, as well as the therapeutic community treating them.
The Recovery Forum is a creative and evolving system and as such, future directions in the field of addictions and recovery will emerge over time. For example, a current direction the Forum is exploring is the impact of brain chemistry upon the selection of addictions; another area is how addictions impact health psychology.
The forum meets at noon, every second and fourth Wednesday of the month. If you are interested in presenting your ideas to the group, or in attending a meeting, please contact Dr. Virginia Lewis at (650) 326-8752 or Dr. Robert Navarra. Guests are welcome.
