Denial is the enemy of an alcoholic. If you have an alcoholic that’s close to your heart, you might find yourself in a quandary. You want to try to help, but you are afraid of upsetting the person in question. If you are wondering how to help an alcoholic, the information below might give you some insight. There’s a lot at risk, and we commend your willingness to help.
At Sante Center, we can give you the information and guidance you need to help the individual in your life abusing alcohol. Alcohol use disorder doesn’t just impact the individual abusing the substance but those around them. It damages relationships, makes work or school a challenge, and eats away at the health of the individual. Alcohol dependency often leads to increasingly risky and dangerous actions that harm others.
The Basics of How to Help an Alcoholic
It’s difficult to watch a loved one slip into the depths of alcoholism. If you want to help someone with a drinking problem, you have to start by showing patience and compassion. The last thing you want to do is become accusatory and aggressive in your confrontations. Trying to shame or scold a loved one struggling with alcohol dependency into getting sober is almost guaranteed to backfire. It will only create resentment, defensiveness and further damage your relationship with your loved one.
To get the ball rolling, you might suggest to your loved one that they might have a drinking problem. You’ll find out right away where their mindset is on the issue. The chances are they will deny the existence of any issues. This is where patience comes into play.
The next step in the process is talking to family members and confirming others see what you see. If everyone is on the same page, you will gain insight by educating yourselves about alcoholism. The information you’ll gather about how to help an alcoholic could be valuable should an intervention need to take place. At all times, you want to help, not attack the person. Remember, they are suffering from an illness they have no control over.
About Addiction Recovery
While making an effort to help, you can share some information about addiction recovery treatment. Knowing a bit about the unknown could put your loved one at ease. Using a top rehab center like the Santé Center for Healing as an example, you can explain the process. By referring to a professional, experienced treatment center, you can make the process seem less personal and more like going to the doctor for an illness, which is essentially what is occurring when seeking professional alcohol detox.
You can talk about the value of detox, which will help alleviate the undesirable effects of alcohol withdrawal symptoms. After detox, individuals are poised to enter more focused treatment programs where therapy will help them work through not just the physical aspects of alcohol addiction but the mental. It can be productive to frame rehab therapy for substance abuse treatment in the same light as physical therapy for a bodily injury. Individuals can explore numerous therapies, such as:
- Art Therapy Program
- Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy
- Dialectical Behavior Therapy
- EMDR Therapy
- Family Therapy
- Fitness Therapy
These and more give individuals the resources, skills, and techniques they need to recover. The value of addiction therapy can’t be understated. You can explain to your loved one that rehab counselors are there to help with the battle against addiction. The idea that they can find allies in their fight can be very comforting. The key is to lay out the facts and give them a choice.
Addiction Treatment at Santé Center for Healing
At our treatment center in Argyle, Texas, we promote treating each client as an individual. Our full menu of treatment services include the following:
- Detox programs
- Long-term inpatient treatment
- Intensive outpatient treatment
- Dual diagnosis treatment
- Access to transitional living
If you can compel your loved one to seek help, our counselors at Santé Center for Healing stand ready to provide that help. For more information, please contact us at 866.238.3154. We can provide you with information about the intervention process and make our services available for your loved one. Getting your loved one help for their alcohol addiction is the priority. Going about it in a patient, non-judgmental fashion with the support of a professional alcohol detox center will give you the best chance of success.
