Strengthening Families, Repairing Relationships

Meet Don and Matt, a father and son who found recovery within two months of each other. 

Don realized he had a problem with alcohol in his early 20's and spent many years in and out of Alcoholics Anonymous, but it wasn't until his 13-year-old son Matt began struggling with addiction too, that things began to change. After several difficult years with Matt, Don realized that he was trying to control his son's substance use while wrestling with addiction himself, and it wasn't working. He recommitted to Alcoholics Anonymous and has been sober since 2012.

Don and his wife, Shari, helped enroll Matt in Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation's outpatient program and committed to attend Family Program meetings every week for a year. Reflecting on their experience in the Family Program, Don says:

"We learned more about our relationship with our son during family week than we had in the previous 16 years. We were learning how to engage with our son, and it was amazing."  

Matt was successful in the outpatient program and became even more active in his recovery when he got connected with a sponsor and enrolled at a recovery high school. Like his father, he remains sober today.

Hazelden Betty Ford helped Matt build a foundation for recovery, and gave Don and his family the ability to rebuild their relationship with him. "My relationship with Matt today is something I could not have ever imagined during our battle with addiction. The fact that we were so close on our sobriety journeys helped us build a healthier relationship, because we could finally relate to each other."