Family Wellness Program
"Whole families get sick. Whole families need therapy."
- Mae Abraham, Ashley Co-founder
Alcoholism and drug addiction takes a toll on adult family members, significant others and children. Ashley provides counseling and education to help family members understand the disease of addiction, co-dependency and recovery in its Family Wellness Program.
Family members and significant others, aged 15 and over, who have been affected by a loved one's alcoholism or addiction are encouraged to participate in a three-day educational and therapeutic program. Its focus is on understanding the disease and its impact on others, problem resolution, and continuing care planning for the whole family.
Click here to download the brochure for the Family Wellness Program
The program, which takes place on the Ashley campus, begins at 8:00 a.m. every Friday and concludes at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday. Participants do not stay overnight at Ashley and are responsible for their own accommodations (discounts are available, click here). Lunch and dinner are provided on the Ashley campus each day of the program (
with the exception of dinner on Sunday), and all program materials are included in the registration fee. Ashley can assist with transportation to and from hotels and airports/train stations. The Family Program is open to
ALL families, regardless of whether their addicted loved-one is a patient at Ashley or not.
Program Overview:
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Three-day educational and therapeutic program
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Geared for family members 15 and over who have been, or are being, affected by a loved one’s alcoholism or addiction. (For kids younger than 15 click here)
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Focused on understanding the disease and its impact on others
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Provides counseling and education to help families understand the disease of addiction, co-dependency and recovery
- Offers hope and useful guidance to chart a path toward ending the cycle of addiction, stress, chaos, fear and co-dependency
- Participants must register and attend all three days; FRIDAY IS MANDATORY
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If you have questions regarding the medical & clinical care of your loved one, click here
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For more information about Ashley's medical & clinical staff click here
For families WITH a patient in treatment at Ashley:
For families WITHOUT a patient in treatment at Ashley:
Registration
Please note that submission of a registration form is not a complete registration. Once you receive a call from our staff, they will gather more information and process your registration.
Families with a patient in treatment at Ashley
do not need to complete a registration form. Please contact Tracey Nelson at 410.273.2227.
Click here to download the participant pre-registration form.
Click here to send an email to Family Services.
Visit our Children's Program page to learn more about education for children living in homes with addiction.
Questions
We receive all sorts of questions from family members prior to their coming to the Family Wellness Program, and the answers to the easily answered questions can be found by
clicking here to visit our FAQ page (look under the topic Family and Children). However, there are many questions asked that are too complex and variable for us to be able to give a universal answer. These challenging questions will be explored during the three days of the Family Wellness Program, in group discussions and lectures as well as during family counseling (with and without your loved one present).
Questions that will be explored during Family Wellness include:
- Why does my loved one act this way? Is it my fault?
- Why do I feel so bad?
- What should I expect my loved one to do for his or her recovery?
- What should I do to help my loved one with his or her recovery?
- Should we remove all the alcohol/drugs from the house?
- Should I stop drinking in front of my loved one?
- What is recovery for family members?
- What should I tell my children? (click here to visit the Children’s Program page)
Often good intentions and efforts actually enable an alcoholic or addict to continue their destructive behavior. Click here to take a quiz, provided by About.com, about whether or not your actions and reactions to an alcoholic or addict might be enabling their behavior.
Family Wellness Counselors
 Kristine Hitchens, Ph.D, MSW, LCSW-C, LCADC, CCDC
Director of Family Services
Karen Albright MSW, LCSW-C
Matt Braswell M.A.
Peggy Burns MHS, LCADC, CCDC, SAP, CSC
Marian Childs M.S., LPC, LCADC
Patty Denney Former Family Wellness Program Coordinator
Timothy Donovan MSW, LCSW-C
Tim Dunnigan MSW, LCSW-C
Shana Mislak MSW, LCSW-C, CCDC
Tracey Nelson MBA, Administrator of Family Services
Karen Sugden M.Ed., LCSW, LCADC
Eileen Thompson CSC-AD, ACRPS
Rebecca Tillemans M.S, LCPC
Key:
ACRPS - Advanced Certified Relapse Prevention Specialist (Gorski training)
CCDC - Certified Chemical Dependency Counselor
CSC - Certified Supervised Counselor
LCADC - Licensed Alcohol Drug Counselor
LCPC - Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor
LCSW - Licensed Certified Social Worker
LCSW-C - Licensed Certified Social Worker, Clinical
LPC - Licensed Professional Counselor
MAC - Master Addiction Counselor
MBA - Masters of Business Administration
MHS - Master of Human Services
M.S. - Master’s Degree (Master of Science)
MSW - Master of Social Work
NCC - National Certified Counselor
Ph.D. - Doctorate Degree
SAP - Substance Abuse Professional
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Families are encouraged to participate in our three-day family wellness program, which affords time with specially-trained counselors and their loved-ones in treatment. |
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