Addiction Should Be Treated at the Same Level of Urgency, as a Cancer Diagnosis
Your son or daughter's addiction is bigger and more dangerous than you may imagine.
Individual therapy can further enable addiction. This inaction takes too long to produce results, which leaves your son or daughter vulnerable to an unforeseen accident or fatal overdose. Therapy should be used in coordination with full addiction treatment.
Addiction should be treated at the same level of urgency, like a cancer diagnosis:
- Avoid distractions, such as, blaming family members for their addiction including mothers, fathers, in-laws, spouses, and siblings
- Sign a Sobriety Agreement: start the conversation that your loved one needs help to get on a better path
- Seek immediate help
- Schedule a complimentary call with an interventionist to guide you through the process
- Research treatment centers
- Before calling treatment centers, do these 3 things
- Host the intervention
- Transport your loved one (addict) to the treatment center
- Post-treatment recovery coaching
Most likely your adult-child is only telling you part of their story; the truth is potentially much worse. How much and how often they use drugs or what acts they performed under the influence is a heavily guarded secret. They will reveal more once in treatment, and in the company of trained counselors and other patients who share a similar struggle.
It's important to stay focused and avoid blaming your son or daughter’s spouse for their drug addiction or drinking. It’s common for spouses to feel hurt and betrayed when they learn of their husband or wife’s drug use. They are scared of what the future holds for their family and their marriage and will likely say things making it feel like you are on opposite sides or that somebody is to blame. This may also be true of in-laws who feel their child must be protected from a troubled partner.
Blame causes people to raise their guard and become defensive. Do your best to avoid this trap and stay focused on recovery. It may feel like everything is lost, but there's always hope for recovery if the addict and family members can remain focused on achieving recovery and avoiding distractions.
It can be overwhelming to have the responsibility of searching for hundreds of treatment centers to find the right one for your loved one. Contact an interventionist to guide you through the intervention and treatment process. Schedule a complimentary consultation with Marc Kantor who is an addiction interventionist with a track record of proven success.
He can be reached at 202-390-2273 or by e-mail at marc@southfloridaintervention.com.