It’s for anyone who’s completed a programme and wants to stay on track long-term. It normally includes sober living homes or regular meetings with a sponsor. Sometimes, people unintentionally enable their loved one’s drinking by making excuses for them, covering up the consequences, or even providing alcohol to avoid conflict. While these actions might feel like acts of love, they actually prevent your loved one from facing the full impact of their addiction. Watching someone you care about struggle with alcoholism can be heartbreaking. You want to help, but it’s hard to know what to say, what to do, or how to protect your own well-being in the process.
- Learning how to support someone in recovery isn’t about inserting yourself into that journey and trying to force their hand, but simply being the partner and advocate that has their back.
- If you prepared any recovery literature or brochures in the first step, it’s time to use them.
- Seeing your loved one struggle with addiction can be difficult, as it affects so many aspects of your lives.
- Helping someone with an alcohol use problem may be a challenge, but it is possible.
- With continued love and patience, you can be a critical support to your loved one as they navigate a path toward a healthier, sober future.
- Knowing what you’re talking about when trying to help someone with an addiction can be incredibly beneficial, and can help you know what to say to them.
- Alcoholism and alcohol abuse affects millions of people, from every social class, race, background, and culture.
Learn About Mental Health
With alcoholism, it’s not just about how much they’re drinking. Addiction also comes with intense cravings, uncomfortable withdrawals, and an inability to control your drinking. That requires a much different approach if you want to get your loved one the help they need and have everything return to normal. Before we get to that, you should be sure they are suffering from alcohol use disorder and not just drinking heavily.
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- In group sessions, a group of participants will meet with a therapist to discuss the problems they are facing as a family or group.
- The best options are to offer support, listen intently, provide resources, and follow-through with any consequences you set forth with them.
- Therefore, it’s necessary that you don’t end the discussion with only promises.
It also prepares you to https://ecosoberhouse.com/ recognize signs of progress—or signs that they might need urgent help. It is best to try and talk with your loved one while they are sober and not under the influence of substances. Trying to communicate with someone who is unable to speak or think clearly is a waste of time. The alcohol has affected parts of their brain that won’t allow them to understand or remember what you are trying to say.
- You could begin counseling or therapy with a mental health professional to discuss and process your feelings.
- Meeting with a social worker for various reasons is a strong way to ensure recovery is successful, and patients can integrate themselves into society without falling into another addictive trap.
- A professional assessment is the best way to assess the problem, establish the facts, and determine what kind of treatment or other services will help lead to recovery and sobriety.
- When you are ready to have a conversation of support and concern with your family member, make sure your loved one is sober.
DO: Stay Calm
Enabling an addict means that your behavior somehow allows them to continue their use. This could mean making excuses for them or bailing them out of bad situations. While it may be difficult to practice tough Sober living house love, it will be beneficial for the addict in the end.
How to Support Someone During Rehab and Recovery
Alcohol abuse and addiction (also known as “alcohol use disorder”) doesn’t just affect the person drinking—it affects their families and loved ones, too. Watching a friend or family member struggle with a drinking problem can be as heartbreakingly painful as it is frustrating. Your loved one may be disrupting family life by neglecting their responsibilities, getting into financial and legal difficulties, or mistreating or even abusing you and other family members. When supporting a help with alcohol partner or family member who is in active addiction to alcohol or other drugs, it’s critically important that you also take care of your well-being. Into Action Recovery offers comprehensive treatments for those seeking recovery from addiction. If someone you know has struggled with alcohol and drug addiction, we want to come alongside you.