Michael Barnes Family Institute
Our Family Recovery Program helps any family affected by substance use and co-occurring mental health disorders using a unique approach.
An accessible, affordable, and vital two-level telehealth-based program facilitating positive change for family systems affected by addictive disorders
Help your entire family to recover today.
Please call (970) 517-4469 to speak confidentially with the Michael Barnes Family Institute.
When it comes to effectively treating addiction, family matters
Addiction is a family disease, and our goal is to assist in the process of healing for the entire family system. Substance use disorders and mental health conditions are more closely related to family system dynamics than most illnesses. As has been widely repeated, addiction truly is a family disease.
Developed by Dr. Michael Barnes using insights from forty years of clinical experience and research, Barnes Family Institute combines specialized curriculum, coaching, and group work to help families address the pervasive effects of addictive disorders.
This two-level telehealth program is available to any family experiencing behavioral health disorders, regardless of whether a member is receiving treatment.
Two Levels of Programming
Level 101: Multi-Family programming
The 101 program is well-suited to families with a member who needs treatment or is currently receiving treatment.
The 101 program is a five-week telehealth program that creates a strong foundation for family healing and recovery-supportive home life. It is included as part of treatment for the families and loved ones of people enrolled in Foundry Steamboat residential and outpatient programs. It is also available to any family regardless of current or prior treatment experiences as a stand-alone service.
The 101 program uses internet-based (virtual) group sessions and video curriculum to educate family members about substance use and mental health disorders as chronic diseases, treatment, understanding trauma, and how to support their loved one’s recovery to lead to healing in the family system. Participants are helped to find local support groups and treatment resources.
The program also lays the groundwork for deeper and more difficult conversations that help to address longstanding and underlying problems affecting families. As with all Barnes Family Institute programming, approaches are solution-oriented and not blame-based. All participants are seen as essential and equal participants in a positive process with the goal of creating a healthier family system and improved individual wellness and quality of life.
Level 102: Individual Family Coaching
The 102 program is well-suited to families with a member in early recovery.
Families who have completed the 101 program are encouraged to deepen their progress in the 102 program. 102 is a 12-week program designed to productively and safely facilitate more profound and more complex conversations about problems affecting family systems and individual family members.
Level 102 participants receive individual, weekly family telehealth coaching sessions and review themes discussed in educational videos. The loved one who has participated in treatment or who is working towards recovery is included in this phase of the program.
Using a curriculum designed by the Barnes Family Institute Team, participants explore and address deep-seated and sometimes longstanding problems that can undermine perceived safety and security, strain family bonds, and promote unhealthy behaviors. The goal of 102, as with all family programming, is to help family members identify and address unresolved trauma, more openly relate to one another, learn to understand and support recovery-oriented lifestyles, and begin the work of restoring family health and function.
Making family programming welcoming, effective, and accessible
The Michael Barnes Family Institute is designed to overcome barriers that prevent families from getting the help they need.
While many evidence-based treatment providers offer various forms of family programming, few provide the breadth and depth needed to stimulate lasting changes. Family members are often hesitant to participate in treatment, and there are practical reasons for this. Clinically effective levels of family programming are usually not covered by insurance plans, and many people believe that family therapy will be a negative experience or that they will be blamed for the negative conditions affecting their loved ones. Family members should know that the goal of this treatment program is to help all family members to understand the issues affecting the family system and find ways to effectively make change. Our approach to therapy is not blame-based and understands that many of the problems families face are the result of living with unresolved trauma and resulting patterns of unhealthy or stunted communication.
The Michael Barnes Family Institute offers high-quality and intensive family care via telehealth videoconferencing that is cost-effective and convenient. Through good business practice and flexible payment planning, the program is accessible to most families. It also uses solution-oriented approaches that focus on developing practical ways of overcoming family issues and challenges rather than dwelling on the sources of problems. In addition, the program’s experienced clinicians help family members come together for their common benefit and understand that all members want and need to feel heard, understood, and welcomed into the process of healing.
Programming Overview — Trauma-Integrated Family Care
Barnes Family Institute provides trauma-integrated programming to help all participating family members address unresolved traumatic experiences and adverse life events. Developmental trauma and PTSD commonly co-occur with substance use and mental health disorders. Trauma is a pervasive problem that can impact more than the person who experiences a traumatic event.
When one family member experiences adverse childhood events, a traumatizing, catastrophic event, like an accident or sudden loss, or other negative experiences, they can develop symptoms of trauma that make it hard for them to function normally and relate to others. The presence of unresolved trauma can cause family members to seem distant, angry, emotionally detached, hypervigilant, and depressed. For these reasons, untreated trauma is a leading factor in the development of substance use disorders. Therefore, when treating individuals and family systems for addictive and mental health disorders, it is vital to identify underlying and unresolved trauma and treat the trauma to restore normal functioning and allow the affected individual(s) to engage in other forms of treatment.
Barnes Family Institute emphasizes the importance of diagnosing and treating trauma affecting individuals and family systems to support better treatment outcomes and help families reduce the risks for future traumatic events, including relapse.
Family members frequently come to this program with their own trauma history. Some have experienced their own major traumatic experiences. Others grew up in families where loved ones suffered with addiction, trauma, mental health, or chronic disease. Most have experienced what is commonly referred to as “secondary trauma,” which is trauma that is experienced when family members deal with a loved one who is experiencing common trauma symptoms.
Please get in touch.
Michael Barnes Family Institute offers families a unique opportunity to regain trust, communication, and relationship after enduring the pain and alienation that can be caused by addiction.
Call us or complete our form to contact a team member.
