“LETTING Go” to Support

“Letting go” does not mean giving up on or abandoning. “Letting go” means redressing power and agency over choices and responsibilities to their owner(s).

In this section, we will explore the “Zone of Usefulness” as a framework for strengthening the partnership with family members and effectively supporting them in their recovery. We’ll also examine and practice approaches and language that help us monitor the quality of partnerships. Staying effective in a partnership means supporting without “ignoring” or “enabling” because:

1. When we ignore, we aren’t attending to and honoring opportunities for the individual and family to own their behavioral health goals and process,
2. Enabling is also missing opportunities to honor, employ, and foster individuals’ and families’ strengths and skills, and
3. Staying effective involves authentically partnering with individuals and their families to achieve positive behavioral health outcomes.

This lesson facilitates practice:

1. Describing and recognizing efforts of enabling and ignoring, and by contrast partnering, within your behavioral health practice,
2. Explaining and applying the approach of sharing your perspective with respect and cultural congruence,
3. Describing and recognizing strategies for authentically partnering with individuals and families, and
4. Identifying and naming power dynamics to share power in the partnership.

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