"Alcohol addiction in women cannot be cured" is the most damaging thing anyone can say to a family. It lifts the responsibility from everyone at once and leaves the woman alone with her illness.
There are a great many women who have stopped drinking by working the twelve-step programme. The myth of incurability rests on something else: addiction in women really does develop faster and calls for a different approach in rehabilitation — more careful, and more attentive to feelings.
Ask a woman why she started drinking and the answers are largely alike. At the root is a reality she finds impossible to live with: love that was not returned, the loss of someone close, trouble with family, violence. In conversations with women in treatment the same words keep coming back — he drank, he hit me, he cheated, he humiliated me, he never valued me, he forced me.
Many of the psychological injuries date back to childhood: difficult relationships with parents push a girl out of the home and out of any rules, and an unstable emotional state later leads to chemical dependency.
There is an entirely ordinary cause as well — exhaustion. In the struggle for equality women have taken on both the female and the male role in the family. Even when they manage to cope with all of it, exhaustion arrives at some point — and a woman starts not only working alongside men but drinking alongside them too. Care for herself disappears at the same time: her own wishes and dreams are the first things sacrificed.
Specialists meet old hurt, years of being made to feel worthless, violence and lies. The task is to teach a woman honesty, to lead her carefully through the depths of that old pain, to teach her to forgive, to accept herself as she is, and to give herself the right to make mistakes and to rest.
Addiction is an illness of frozen feelings. As they thaw, there are tears, outbursts and withdrawal into oneself: women live their feelings more vividly than men do. This is not a complication but the substance of the process — the more openly a woman lets her feelings out, the steadier the result.
The central principle of rehabilitation is especially visible here: do no harm. Feelings that have thawed need careful support, or they can destroy the person herself.
The twelve-step programme is built on spirituality and faith, and for women this part carries particular weight. Recovery is hard to imagine without accepting one's own womanhood — compassion, unconditional love, care for the person next to you.
Change on the inside always shows on the outside: a woman in recovery looks different, returns to caring for herself and to wanting to be attractive, takes pleasure in running a home and looks after the people close to her.
Hiding it is one of the typical signs of addiction in women, and it often appears earlier than any other noticeable symptom. That is a reason to speak to a specialist rather than wait for "clear proof".
What she needs is a different pace of work with her feelings, and that is the specialist's job. Conditions and practical arrangements are discussed at the consultation — we answer those questions directly over the phone.
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Good afternoon, this comment is for parents and relatives who are experiencing family problems! My daughter went through rehabilitation at this center, and she's finally sober and happy. I was desperate and didn't know where to turn. Miraculously, I found out about this place. My daughter went there herself and completed the full course of rehabilitation. The center is open and there's no moral pressure. They treat us with love and care, and they've really helped me and many other parents understand their children better! I'm eternally grateful to you, you've changed our lives and done what others couldn't do!!!
I want to express my deepest gratitude: my friend has already been clean for a year. With the help of this Rehabilitation Center, he began to recover and is now getting his life back on track. Using the knowledge and skills he gained at the Istok Center, he is trying to resolve his current problems and worries and is even helping others do the same! Thank you for opening his eyes and giving him a choice about the life he wants to live. Thank you for that!
A very good center!!! Thanks to the staff and the director of the rehab center, I have completely changed my life after twenty years of severe drug use. My family and I are so grateful that there are people like you who can show us the right path and, most importantly, support us when we think we're lost. I recommend it to everyone!!! All you need is a sincere desire, and the rehab center staff will help you with the rest.
The consultation is free and anonymous. It is usually the family who call first rather than the person with the addiction — that is normal, and most recovery stories begin exactly there.
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