Structured Family Recovery

STRUCTURED FAMILY RECOVERY

Pine Grove is the first treatment facility in the country to offer our patients Debra Jay’s Structured Family Recovery Initiative. The whole family is affected by addiction and mental illness, and the whole family is part of the solution. Pine Grove’s Family Program assists families in understanding how they may become part of that solution, and Structured Family Recovery is an important aspect of our successful Family Program.

father and teenage son having a conversation while walking

Benefits of Structured Family Recovery

While most alcoholics and addicts coming out of treatment have a basic aftercare plan, families are often left in the dark. Our program offers a  straightforward structured model that shows family members how to take personal responsibility and build a circle of support to meet the obstacles common to the first year of recovery.

Together, family members address the challenges of enabling, denial, and pain while developing their communication skills through practical, easy-to-follow strategies and exercises designed to create transparency and accountability.

The goal of the program is to have family members work together as they reinvent their relationships without the all-consuming destruction of active addiction.

Families leave with a year-long blueprint for family meetings, that include an introduction to the 12 Steps for families, weekly topics and readings, guidelines for discussion, directions for creating a relapse plan, and much more.

What to Expect

Our Structured Family Recovery Program outlines how each family member impacts a patient’s recovery after treatment. This creates a defined family support system which can provide empathy, understanding, and accountability once a patient completes residential treatment.

Here is how it works:

  • Families have a one-hour Structured Family Recovery conference call each week.
  • Families participate in a one-hour 12-step recovery meeting for families each week

Using this approach, the family becomes an important element of their loved one’s recovery after treatment. 

Families are also asked to:

  • Obtain a copy of It Takes a Family: A Cooperative Approach to Structured Recovery.
  • Read the first 34 pages (and ask other close family members to do the same).

By reading this book, family members and friends become part of the recovery team, beginning in the early stages of sobriety and treatment at Pine Grove. Our program offers a year-long blueprint for family meetings, that include an introduction to the 12 Steps, weekly topics and readings, guidelines for discussion, directions for creating a relapse plan, and much more.


The Structured Family Recovery program places emphasis on:

  • Positive rewards and negative consequences
  • Frequent random drug testing
  • 12 step involvement and abstinence expectation
  • Applicable role models and recovery mentors
  • Modified lifestyles
  • Active and sustained monitoring
  • Active management of relapse
  • Continuing care approach

Meet The Structured Family Recovery Team

Debra Jay, Pine Grove Behavioral Health family recovery

Debra Jay

Lori Forseth, Pine Grove Behavioral Health family therapist

Lori Forseth

pine tree Pine Grove Behavioral Health logo

Get In Touch

"*" indicates required fields

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.