Since 1957, Azure Acres Treatment Center has given hope to individuals struggling with addiction and its lasting effects. Azure Acres provides residents with high-quality alcohol and drug abuse treatment near Santa Rosa, California.
The following are enabling behaviors:
- Not talking about family problems.
- Withdrawing from the relationship
- Giving permission to be the chemically dependent person to withdraw from the family, and family responsibilities.
- Accepting the blame for problems in our relationship (not making waves).
- Buying into the game of “I can’t please you, therefore, I don’t need to be responsible”.
- Acting as a buffer between:
- parent and child
- spouse and child
- spouse and mate
- Protecting the chemically dependent person from problems.
- Denying that the problem exists, not looking at the connection between the drug use and abuse, and what’s happening to the family.
- Accepting guilt and not feeling good enough about myself to say “I COUNT”.
- Enabling attitudes and behavior:
- insecurity
- hostility/anger
- resentments
- shame/guilt
- self-pity
- pleading
- warped personal lives
- blaming
- degradation
- bargaining
- belittling
- condescension
- dependency/love
- fear/anxiety/frustration
- lack of understanding of the disease
- threats I wouldn’t carry out
Family Enabling:
- Trying to control the chemically dependent person’s behavior.
- Covering up:
- behavior
- bad checks
- discarded value system
- Enabling take the form of survival.
- Family resistant to change.
- Must permit the alcoholic/addict to see and feel his/her sickness.