It can be frustrating to have a loved one who is clearly showing signs of drug or alcohol addiction yet refusing to get the help they need. You may have exhausted yourself from emotional battles with your loved one that you always seem to lose. If you’re feeling stuck, consider the following suggestions to help you feel stronger and more in control of yourself and also motivate your loved one to go to rehab.
Create and Enforce Clear Boundaries
It may seem counterintuitive, but the first step to take in dealing with a family member or friend’s substance use disorder is to put yourself first. It’s the classic airplane instruction of “put your mask on before putting on someone else’s.”
Set limits with your loved one. Perhaps they can no longer stay at your house, receive financial assistance from you, rely on you for travel or the supply of substances, or use your car anymore. With boundaries in place, you’re able to relieve yourself of stress and prevent triggers. This makes you stronger, stabler, and more logical when interacting with the person struggling with an addiction or when addressing their need for recovery.
Also, remember to make your boundaries clear to yourself, your family, and the person involved. This ensures that there’s a united, supportive front and that you’re not resorting to idle threats that destabilize your potentially healthy environment.
Enlist Help From Friends, Family, and Your Community
It’s not your sole purpose to be responsible for the sobriety of a family member or friend. The other people present in the life of the person you’re helping need to be contacted. Try to shrug off feelings of embarrassment; they’ll only hold you back from getting the help your family needs. You can begin to enlist help by taking any of the following steps:
- Enter therapy or speak with a counselor and learn to create and keep boundaries and gain new perspectives
- Call someone who you personally know who has overcome substance abuse—they’ll have advice
- Consider collaborating with an interventionist or crisis center
- Contact a substance abuse treatment specialist or center like St. Gregory Recovery Center for assistance, support, and resources
Use St. Gregory Recovery Center As Motivation
When suggesting a treatment plan for your loved one, remember to highlight all of the ways below in which St. Gregory’s supports clients and their families:
- We have a compassionate view of addiction
There’s a myth about addiction that people who struggle with it are bad eggs, destined for failure, and riddled with a problematic personality. St. Gregory completely rejects that narrative and holds fast to one in which addiction is seen as a coping mechanism for trauma and pain gone awry. We approach residents with care and concern, never judgment.
- We offer safe detox
It’s often essential, depending on the severity of the dependence on a given substance, that a treatment center is well equipped with comfortable detox services carried out and monitored by a compassionate staff that sees residents as people, not prisoners who need to be punished with withdrawal symptoms.
- We create the chance for residents to join a community
Whether or not residency is the right step for you, we provide you with the chance to interact with other people in a similar situation. You’ll leave our program with lifelong supportive connections that will stimulate personal growth, demand accountability, and encourage sobriety.
- We offer logistical support and help with travel
You have enough to worry about with orchestrating an entirely new lifestyle. Know that we can assist with the often overwhelming amount of planning and preparation involved with entering treatment.
- We teach life skills to help residents gain independence & confidence
It’s not just about what happens inside the facility the person chooses to attend; it’s about what they do outside of it with the lessons they’ve learned. Research centers that equip residents with skill sets, opportunities to rejoin the workforce, and a hopeful outlook are the most useful and rewarding.
- We provide resources for families and loved ones
So much of a successful recovery requires the integration of friends and family into the recovery journey. The most effective plans and approaches in rehabilitation are those that actively include and engage your loved ones.
Contact Us For Support in Iowa
At St. Gregory’s, we promise an innovative, compassionate, and scientific approach to your loved one’s step toward sobriety. We recognize that those first steps of motivating a family member or friend to enter treatment can be daunting. That’s why we urge you to call us, speak to a real person, and put your mind at ease. That’s why we’re here; to make this process as easy and rewarding for you and your loved ones as possible.
