Few things in life make you feel more helpless than to sit back and watch a loved one destroy themselves—and everyone around them—because of a substance abuse problem. Addiction is an insatiable disease, and unless its insidious progress is arrested, it will continue to take and take and take until the person has nothing more to give, not even their life.
However, the vast majority of people who are suffering from drug addiction or alcoholism are entirely unable to stop on their own. They need professional help. Yet, even knowing all of that, it can be confusing and frustrating. At this point, you may not know how to encourage someone to go to rehab or what to do or say that might really impact your drug-addicted loved one. Contact our knowledgeable team at Ashwood Recovery at 888.341.3607 for help convincing someone to go to rehab and more information about our rehab treatment program in Idaho.
How to Encourage Someone to Go to Rehab
Tips about convincing someone to go to rehab can help, such as:
- Learning about addiction
- Planning an intervention
- Being non-judgmental
- Getting professional help
However, it’s essential to ensure—from the beginning—that your loved one knows you are supporting them and trying to understand them and how they feel.
Educate Yourself Before You Act
Do educate yourself about the disease of addiction. Read all of the literature that you can get your hands on. Go to local addiction support groups. Most importantly, speak to a professional about your situation, and perhaps even therapy yourself.
By now, your loved one’s addiction is probably driving you crazy and making your life unmanageable. The first thing you need to do is find out how to restore balance, serenity, and sanity to your own life. You can’t help someone else if addiction has control of your life.
Plan an Intervention for Your Loved One
Don’t constantly nag, harangue, or beg your loved one to stop drinking or using. The constant pleading will be brushed aside at this point. Most probably, up to this point, you have played the role of enabler in their addiction. They have no reason to listen to you.
Hold an intervention. This can be one of the most effective tools that you can use to convince your addicted loved one to accept rehab. When a person’s entire circle gets together to directly inform the addict how their actions have negatively impacted lives, it can be a powerful motivator.
Don’t Blame Your Loved One, and Be Supportive
Don’t blame or judge your loved one. You have to be able to separate the person from the disease.
Be strong in your love and support, even while letting your loved one know how their disease has hurt them and everyone they care about. It needs to be evident that your words come from a place of love but that the catastrophes and uncertainty caused by the addiction will no longer be tolerated in your life. Stay focused. The purpose is to make an emotional connection that compels that person to accept treatment.
Get Professional Help
An intervention is, by definition, emotionally charged, and it can be easy to get off track and veer away from what is supposed to ultimately be a positive encounter.
Consider using a professional interventionist. Everything that you might fail to take into account because you are too inexperienced or too emotionally invested, they will remember. They can plan, manage, and execute each step correctly. Because they are not emotionally involved in the process, they can keep a cool head when the situation becomes heated.
Find Addiction Treatment in Idaho at Ashwood Recovery
Ultimately, a person struggling with an active addiction must make a conscious choice to participate in their recovery. Contact our compassionate team at Ashwood Recovery by calling 888.341.3607 to learn more.