• Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

Love With BoundariesLove With Boundaries

Family Addictions Counselling & Therapy

  • Home
  • Services
    • If You’re Addicted
    • Are You Ready for Counselling?
    • How Can We Help
    • 16 Steps to Boundaries & Breakthroughs
    • Loving an Addict, Loving Yourself Online Course
    • Individual Counselling
    • Couple Counselling
    • Online Counselling
    • Clinical Supervision
  • About Candace
    • How We Are Different
    • 12 vs 16 Steps for Recovery
    • Success Stories
    • The Team
  • Speaking
  • Media
    • Media Kit
    • TV/Video Interviews
    • Radio/Audio and Print Interviews
    • The Candace Plattor Show
  • Books
    • Loving an Addict, Loving Yourself
    • Loving an Addict, Loving Yourself: The Workbook
    • Self-Respect Sunday for Your Soul . . . If You Love an Addict
    • The Truth About Addiction
    • The Difference between Helping and Enabling
    • Sometimes Love Looks Like “No”
    • Voices of the 21st Century: Women Transforming the World
    • Voices of the 21st Century: Women Empowered Through Passion and Purpose
  • Blog
    • Blog Archives
    • Ask Candace
    • Your Questions Answered!
  • Contact
  • Clients
    • Log In

Header

 

Candace Plattor, M.A.Registered Clinical Counsellor
Candace Plattor, M.A.
Registered Clinical Counsellor
If nothing ever changed, there would be no butterflies.

Recovery Month: Honouring the Journey of Families and Loved Ones

addiction recovery

Every September, Recovery Month offers us a poignant reminder of the challenges, triumphs, and ongoing journeys of individuals and families navigating the path of addiction recovery. It’s a time to reflect on the impact of substance use disorders, celebrate the strength of those who choose recovery, and acknowledge the vital role of families and communities in this process.

My own story, from a harrowing 15-year battle with opioid addiction to over 38 years of sobriety and a rewarding career as an Addictions Therapist, embodies the essence of Recovery Month. What I know for sure is this: recovery doesn’t happen in isolation. It requires informed, compassionate support—and families play a crucial role.

The Fine Line Between Helping and Enabling

One of the most important lessons I’ve learned is the difference between helping and enabling. Families often want to do everything they can to support their loved one, yet many find themselves enabling—sometimes even when they know they’re doing it.

  • Helping means encouraging recovery and independence: supporting treatment plans, attending family therapy sessions, and setting and maintaining healthy boundaries.
  • Enabling, though usually well-intentioned, happens when family members do for the addict what they could and should do for themselves—like covering up mistakes, making excuses, or providing money that fuels addictive behaviour.

This distinction is key, because enabling actually prolongs the addiction, while helping lays the groundwork for change.

Boundaries: The Key to Breakthroughs

At Love With Boundaries, we know that families need just as much healing and support as the addict. That’s why we developed 16 Steps to Boundaries & Breakthroughs—a compassionate, step-by-step online group coaching program for women to help themselves and their families stop enabling and start reclaiming their own lives.

Some of these steps include:

  • Recognizing what’s in your control—and what isn’t. You cannot make your loved one stop using, but you can choose how you respond.
  • Setting and maintaining healthy boundaries. Boundaries are not punishments; they are loving, respectful ways to protect yourself and create the possibility of real change.
  • Practicing Self-Care without guilt. When you look after your own emotional and physical health, you’re in a stronger position to respond to your loved one with clarity instead of chaos.
  • Finding your voice. Learning how to communicate your limits consistently—and from a place of love—helps you step out of fear and into strength.

These steps aren’t about “giving up” on your addicted loved one—they’re about breaking the cycle of enabling and creating the space for recovery to happen.

Tips for Families During Recovery Month

  • Educate Yourself. Addiction is a choice—and so is recovery. By allowing loved ones to experience the consequences of staying in addiction, families make it possible for change to occur.
  • Encourage Treatment. While the decision ultimately belongs to the addict, your support and encouragement matter greatly.
  • Get Support for Yourself. Counselling and group work can give you the grounding you need to set and maintain healthy boundaries.
  • Practice Self-Care. Supporting someone in addiction is emotionally exhausting. Your well-being is essential.

Honouring the Journey of Recovery

Recovery Month is also about honouring the courage of those who choose sobriety—every single day. My journey from opioid addiction to a life of service shows that recovery IS possible! And with the right support, families can find peace, stability, and strength, no matter where their loved one is on their recovery journey.

You Don’t Have to Do This Alone

If you’re struggling with how to help your loved one without enabling their addiction, we invite you to join our Group Counselling Program. Together, we’ll guide you through the 16 Steps to Boundaries & Breakthroughs, give you tools to reclaim your own life, and show you how to support your addicted loved one in a healthy, sustainable, and joyful way.

👉 Click here to register for our group counselling and start your own journey to healing today.

Filed Under: Addiction recovery Tagged With: Addiction, Addiction in the family, Addiction recovery, Helping vs. Enabling, Recovery Month

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Footer

Download afree chapter!

Download a
free chapter!

Loving an Addict, Loving Yourself

7 Tips for Outsmarting Your Addiction

7 Tips for Outsmarting Your Addiction

Sign-up form

Download a free chapter and the free report, and you’ll also receive my Self-Respect Sunday with Candace posts.

You can unsubscribe at any time. Review our Privacy Policy for details.

Outsmarting Your Addiction: Take Full Responsibility for Your Life Choices & Regain Your Self-Respect

Outsmarting Your Addiction

Candace’s Award-Winning Books!

Candace’s Award-Winning Books are available for purchase.

Loving an Addict, Loving Yourself

hard copy | ebook | audiobook
en Français: PDF | mobi | epub

Loving an Addict, Loving Yourself the Workbook

hard copy | ebook

Recent Posts

  • Recovery Month: Honouring the Journey of Families and Loved Ones
  • Relapse Is Not Normal or Expected
  • Celebrating 38 Years Clean and Sober
  • Self-Care Strategies… if You Love an Addict
  • Assertiveness

TEDxBearCreekPark talk: How to Love with Boundaries

TEDxBearCreekPark talk:
How to Love with Boundaries

Candace Plattor speaking at TEDx

If nothing ever changed

“If nothing ever changed, there would be no butterflies.”

Copyright © 2025·Candace Plattor, M.A., Registered Clinical Counsellor·
Vancouver, BC·website by nrichmedia

  • Instagram
Privacy Policy · Disclaimer · Terms of Use