5 Ways To Encourage A Loved One To Go To Rehab

Published by John Gillen | Last updated: 10th March 2022

5 Ways To Encourage A Loved One To Go To Rehab

Addiction affects the lives of countless people in our society, and it is something that a lot of people may experience dealing within their lives.

Fearing that a family member, friend, or even an employee or coworker may be battling drug addiction or alcohol addiction can be an uneasy and quite frightening experience, but there are ways to handle such situations.

If you believe that someone’s addiction is controlling their life, then them seeking addiction treatment from a professional rehab (such as drug and alcohol rehab, as provided here at Cassiobury Court) is the best decision that they can make.

And while such rehabilitation courses often offer friend referral, family referral, and employer referral options, it is important to know how to encourage someone to go to rehab in the right, tactful manner which makes them feel heard as opposed to targetted.

 

Learn About What Addiction Is

The sad fact of the matter is, it can be very difficult to confront someone you love about their addiction and the possibility of getting professional help. However, more often than not, this can be difficult for people as they have not taken the time to understand the mechanisms and realities of what addiction actually is.

By looking into the science of what can cause an addiction to manifest as well as how an addiction cycle works in a person’s brain, it is possible to approach a person about what they may be going through from a position of slightly more understanding — as well as understanding yourself why professional treatment is so vital.

With this in mind, it can also be very important to be mindful of the fact that someone may be inadvertently self-medicating themselves for a mental disorder through their addiction. Therefore, coming off a substance may bring with it other issues that will need to be dealt with — another element that professional medical assistance can help with.

There are many good scientific resources online that can help you understand more about addiction, however, it is important to find ones that are written by professionals by looking into the sources they are using and sticking to reputable websites and outlets. The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIH) frequently publishes well-researched and insightful information on their Addiction Science section that can really help get your head around addiction.

 

Look Into Treatment Plans And Options Prior To Confronting Someone

Once you have educated yourself on substance abuse disorders, you should look into the various different types of treatment that are on offer across the country.

There are a wide array of treatment options out there, such as alcohol detoxoutpatient care, inpatient care, abstinence treatments, holistic approaches to treatment, alternative treatments, and various forms of aftercare that treatment plans may provide.

This can seem overwhelming, however, lots of treatment plan’s websites will contain all of the information you need in an easy to understand manner.

As an example, Cassiobury Court offers treatment plans which combine psychological therapy, well-being/mindfulness therapy, social therapy, and aftercare — this holistic approach to addiction treatment, we strongly believe, gives people a better chance of conquering their addiction at its root as well as preparing them for the rest of their life once they leave.

However, other treatment plans will offer different approaches, and it is important to familiarise yourself with those options, perhaps by phoning helplines if you need help understanding the information online.

 

Hold An Intervention

Repeatedly nagging at someone to get help from a position of judgement is not only going to push an addict away, but it is not going to encourage them to actually get the help that they need fro A alcohol or drug rehab treatment centre.

Instead, holding an intervention can be an effective way to approach the problem of someone’s addiction in a safe, supportive, and well-structured environment. This can be done by planning out your intervention plan with other loved ones — as well as, if you require, with the help of an interventionist specialist.

The most important aspect of this can be presenting a united front along with all of the addicts’ loved ones, however, you are there to support them through this process not attack them.

 

Listen To The Person Suffering And Avoid Judgement

Seeing a loved one under the hold of addiction is naturally going to be quite an emotional experience for everyone involved. However, while you may experience emotions such as sorrow, self-blame, disappointment, or anger, it is important to remain calm when confronting someone about their addiction.

When emotions such as these are allowed to come to the surface during interventions is when an intervention gets out of control that can push the addict further away.

While it is important to not give in to yelling and hostility, that does not mean that the people in the intervention should not be truthful with the addict about the emotions that they have caused them to feel.

Addicts often damage relationships with loved ones, and so expressing how they have damaged a relationship with you while also speaking from a position of wanting to preserve your relationship with them can yield powerful and effective results. Honesty should be the theme, but keep emotions under control.

Also, it is important to remember to try and avoid outright judgemental tones — addicts will not respond well to being preached to when they are feeling vulnerable. This might all seem like a very narrow and difficult tightrope to walk, which is why getting advice from professionals about interventions can be vitally important.

 

Get Them Into Treatment & Remember To Care For Yourself

There are studies that show that the sooner you get a loved one into a treatment plan once they have expressed a willingness to get better, the better the results for their recovery can be. This is why doing research into treatment options before an intervention is held is very important.

You can contact Cassiobury Court on 0800 001 4070, email at info@cassioburycourt.com, or contact us through our website, and we can help advise you in setting up treatment for a family member, friend, or employee, as soon as possible. It is important not to delay when it comes to getting someone you care about back to their best health, as every day they are under their addiction’s thumb is a day that they are lost to their loved ones.

Finally, if you feel that you have been affected by someone else’s addiction and need help dealing with this, then there are support groups and helplines available, such as Families Anonymous, that are set up specifically to help those who have been affected by someone else’s addiction.

Helping someone make the first steps towards a clean life is a great thing, but you should also make sure that you are being cared for as well.

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John Gillen

John Gillen - Author Last updated: 10th March 2022

John Gillen is a leading addiction treatment expert with over 15 years of experience providing evidence-based treatment methods for individuals throughout the UK. John also co-authors the book, The Secret Disease of Addiction, which delves into how the addictive mind works and what treatment techniques work best.