Objective: to understand the perception of drug users about “being a family” in the context of their psychosocial rehabilitation. Method: based on the theoretical-philosophical reference of Maurice Merleau-Ponty. It was carried out with eleven users of the Center for Psychosocial Care Alcohol and other Drugs (CAPS AD) in a municipality in the South of Bahia, Brazil, through the Focal Group, in August 2015. The resulting material was submitted to the Ambiguity Analytical Technique. Results: the readings of the descriptions allowed the definition of the thematic category: Nuances of being family: materialist and existential view. Final considerations: the results of the study converged to the understanding that the user of alcohol and other drugs recognizes the “being a family” from two dimensions: a more materialistic, and an existentialist, which need to be considered in the process of psychosocial rehabilitation of this user.