Staging an Addiction Intervention for Your Son or Daughter
When your son or daughter gets addicted, your first feelings are likely those of shame, guilt, and regret. You feel that your addicted child is not appreciative of the efforts you have made. Sometimes you get feelings of failure as a good parent. You admire children that ‘turned out well’ and wonder if there was something you could have done differently. It’s important to get to the understanding that your child’s decisions are not yours. Don’t just wallow in hate or self-pity; decide to do something for your addicted son or daughter. One of the primary things to look into is addiction intervention.
Having a child who is addicted to drugs or alcohol is painful
It hurts to see your child go the pain and despair that comes with addiction. While the first reaction to addiction is anger and blame, you can choose a different approach. It is already so hard that your child is in a situation they can no longer control, but you and your family are suffering too. Your child will want to maintain the using patterns, and so they will manipulate you to ensure it.
The most difficult part is that your addicted daughter or son is now fully dependent on you because of the effects of addiction. Addiction is synonymous to being “enslaved by” or “bound to.” It is only someone who has struggled with addiction who truly understands what it’s like. Addiction damages the brain by exerting a long and powerful effect on the brain which manifests in either; craving the substance of addiction, losing control over the substance use, or continuing to indulge the substance despite its effects.
It is possible to overcome addiction. As a parent, you need to be patient with yourself and the addicted child, and also seek support through appropriate intervention. It’s unfortunate that some families wait so long before they consider addiction intervention. The earlier you can arrest the habit, the higher chances of getting a successful intervention with permanent results.
Having to cope with the manipulative behavior and constantly worrying is mentally and emotionally draining. Some days you are so embarrassed because of their behavior and others you are worried about being in danger as addiction exposes them to various physical and psychological harms. Naturally, as a parent, you will want to take responsibility for your son’s or daughter’s addiction. Remember that your child’s addiction is not your fault. You should not blame yourself for it. Instead, you can choose to act fast and save your child from addiction by staging an intervention.
An Intervention Can Finally Help You Establish Boundaries
While supporting your child adequately through this process is highly beneficial, you need the help of an expert. There are things you won’t be able to do on your own. However, with the intervention of an expert you will learn how to set boundaries that you may have not been able to. They will also help you see things that you did not realize you were doing. Sometimes the behavior of those around the struggling child may be enabling. Intervention is important because it focuses on both the addicted person and the family for the best results.
There is a thin line between enabling and being supportive. As a parent of an addicted son or daughter, you may not draw the line, especially when you want to show you care, and your love is constant. An interventionist will show you how and when to say no. These boundaries help your child accept help and ensure that enabling behavior does not lead to a relapse or worsen any underlying mental health disease. They will help you define when you are protecting the addict out of a need for peace and a sense of duty, and when exercising care. Its processes that will help you overcome guilt, fear, and shame that an addict can easily manipulate to continue the habit.
Staging an Intervention Lets Your Son or Daughter Know that You Care
Making a decision on addiction intervention is hard. Sometimes it is misunderstood by the addicted child and sometimes they refuse to accept intervention or treatment. Addiction comes with a lot of feelings of shame. It then becomes hard to have an open discussion on the effects of addiction and the process of healing with the addict and the family.
Addiction intervention opens up a platform for the patient to open themselves to treatment and to others, especially family. As a parent, you need to know that even if they don’t act like it, they are upset with themselves deep down and they feel ashamed for letting you and others they love down. This feeling of guilt and resentment can become a huge stumbling block to healing. An intervention program opens up reality to your child in a way that promotes self-acceptance and optimism.
An addiction intervention can help clear the air. It says, “We love you, we don’t judge you, we aren’t ashamed, we just want you to get help so that you can get better.”
An Addiction Intervention Doesn’t Only Help the Addict – It Helps the Family
While your child’s addiction may have taken a toll on their health and physical body, it leaves family relationships equally dented. Addiction brings a lot of fatigue, mistrust, and fear among family members. Sometimes it is hard to define relationships after the treatment because a lot of lies and manipulation have been going on. There is also the danger of addiction spreading to other family members because of the influence of the addicted person. It is important that the whole family is also taken care of when addressing addiction.
The family should also be careful not to advance enabling and co-dependent behaviors. An addiction intervention program will help them avoid these behaviors and get the addicted family member to accept help. Addiction, intervention, treatment, and recovery issues affect and involve the entire family as such they should also be taken care of for a holistic process.
The interventionist cannot only help your family establish healthier boundaries; they can help educate your family on the disease of addiction. An interventionist will help you understand how addiction works which will likely answer lots of questions you’ve been wondering about.
Conclusion
An addiction intervention program takes about two days. Within these two days, you will have undergone sessions that will help your family move on together after addiction and treatment. The education and support offered to family help them handle their child’s addiction better and offers very solid support for better and permanent recovery. It also helps them manage expectations, define new behaviors, and produce a unified unit of support for the addicted child.
