Family Support: The X-Factor In Addiction Treatment - Part II

November 10, 2025

Jim Savage, Author & Interventionist & Family Coach

Tom O'Connor, Publisher

Author Jim Savage is a licensed drug and alcohol counselor with over 30 years of experience in addiction treatment. Jim is a recovering addict and has been sober since 1988. He openly discusses his recovery and is dedicated to practicing what he preaches when guiding others in recovery.

In 2010, after successfully running an adolescent and young adult IOP program for over ten years, I decided to shift my focus to working directly with families. I did so after realizing:

• How much influence the family can have on treatment outcomes, and

• How much support do families need to navigate treatment with a loved one?

Research indicates that family involvement significantly enhances treatment outcomes. However, if we're honest, there is an apparent disconnect when it comes to family support in addiction treatment. Budget limitations, staff workload, and logistical challenges associated with family programming all pose significant obstacles for facilities seeking to provide adequate support to families.

On the other hand, most treatment professionals are aware of the potential for families to unintentionally sabotage treatment efforts through enabling and other behaviors.

This disparity between the positive and negative influences the family can have on treatment is why I refer to the family as the "X-factor" when it comes to treatment success:

In many cases, the family can either make or break the case.

I became focused on addressing this "X-factor" that can significantly impact treatment outcomes. The first thing I did was write a book called Rehab Works! A Parent's Guide To Drug Treatment. I then developed the RehabWorks Family Support program, an online educational platform for families of treatment clients. The purpose of RehabWorks was to provide a solution for harnessing what I refer to in my book as "the untapped potential the family represents for improving treatment outcomes."

Bridging The Gap

The underlying premise of my work with RehabWorks is straightforward: unless we start checking families into treatment along with the clients—which is unlikely to happen—there will always be an inherent gap between the client, the family, and the treatment team. And these gaps are where important treatment details often fall through the cracks—and become some of the most significant and consistent contributors to poor outcomes.

Through RehabWorks, I created a program that bridges these gaps. 

The first step toward bridging the gap was addressing the issue of accessibility. How can we engage families in treatment right away? 

The solution was to develop an entire online platform that families could access at the time of admission. I remember the first time I described my idea to an admissions coordinator for a local treatment center: "What if when you're admitting a client to treatment, you were able to hand the family some log-in information, and they could be watching videos that welcome them into treatment and start delivering education on the way home from admission?"

His response: "Man, that would be incredible. You should do that!" I then said, "Hold my beer." (NO I DIDN'T! Sorry, I couldn't help it...) However, I went on to show him that I had already created exactly what I had just described. We ended up beta-testing the program at his facility, and they became the first to integrate RehabWorks into their family program.

This highlights the first key factor in closing the gap: accessibility. What I did with RehabWorks was develop a method that provides convenient access for families, without requiring them to wait for the first family therapy session or the next intensive family weekend, where most programs typically deliver the education piece these days (if at all).

If making the material accessible is the first step towards bridging the gap and harnessing the power of family support, the second piece of the puzzle is the material itself. When I wrote Rehab Works!, I included the most critical information that families should know about addiction and how treatment works. It included topics such as:

• Substance Use Disorder diagnosis: What it means to have a "problem"

• Impact of substance use on the family system (boundaries, restoring family balance)

• Measuring treatment progress

• Elements of treatment planning (continuum of care, relapse prevention, peer-based support, etc.)

  
  

Here's a link to Carolyn Bradfield's article on family involvement in SUD recovery.

This New Framework

This new framework is the key to addressing the family as the X-factor in treatment success:

• It meets families where they are at the beginning of treatment and educates them about addiction, treatment, and recovery.

• It provides families with tools for setting informed, healthy boundaries, restoring balance, and beginning their recovery.

• It teaches families how to measure progress and identify cracks in the foundation—before the client leaves treatment.

Improving Outcomes

The impact of effective family engagement on treatment outcomes is significant and cannot be overstated. And the truth is, it's not that complicated. Let's consider an example of how early engagement through effective education can position the family to "make the case" rather than "break the case":

A client tells the family, "Get me out of here! I'm not as bad as everyone else here."

If the family has already learned that if Substance Use Disorder has been diagnosed, it needs to be treated—regardless of the drug of choice, or the circumstances of their use, they'll know how to respond:

"You have a substance use disorder, and it needs to be treated."

This is just one example of how premature discharge can be avoided by simply involving the family immediately and providing them with the right educational materials. Any of the statements in the "gap" diagram above represent potential scenarios that can sabotage treatment if the family doesn't know how to respond:

• "I need to focus on my depression."

• "It's only pot. It doesn't cause me any problems."

• "I'm doing fine now. I don't need all this treatment."

To the contrary, an informed family can easily set aside these potential barriers to successful treatment, avoid power struggles, and become a strong ally in the treatment process.

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Jim Savage can be reached at www.jimsavage.net

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