Intervention and 3 More Ways to Suggest Rehab to a Loved One

4 Tips to Encourage Your Loved One to Go to Rehab

Encouraging a loved one to go to rehab can be emotionally challenging. Most addicts are scared at the thought of being away from their friends and family and making a big change in their life. While change can be scary, that decision could help save their life.

Rehab can make them realize that they have a problem with drugs or alcohol, and your help and intervention (even if not formal) can support them!

Admitting that you have a problem and need rehab is the first step to get clean. But constantly pushing them to go to rehab could prevent them from going. Here are some gentle ways to encourage your loved one to seek help. 

Keep reading to learn more about ways to help support a loved one in seeking help, and get proven tips and programs at Purpose Healing Center at any time!

1) Teach Them

Teaching them about addiction and rehab will make them realize that they have a problem and ease any fears they may have about rehab. One way to do this is to share stories of individuals who have been in a similar situation and attended rehab and made great strides with their recovery. Educating your loved one about an average day in rehab can help remove any preconceived notions they may have about it. Use encouraging, inspiring, and uplifting language, and try to include various activities they would enjoy doing in rehab. 

Some rehabs have outdoor activities such as adventure rope courses, horseback riding, and sporting events. If your loved one enjoys some of these activities, they know what to look forward to in rehab. Let them know that rehab isn’t just about addressing their issues. The more information you give them about rehab and its advantages, the more likely they will open up to the idea about going. 

It’s important to educate yourself about rehab before talking to your loved one. Learn about what rehab entails can help you show the benefits. Everyone should be aware of drug addiction and its side effects. But talking about drugs and rehab isn’t fun for everyone, especially if they think their drug use is normal or isn’t hurting them. They may know that drugs are bad, but they may not realize the circumstances. 

It’s also important to learn about drug addiction, so you can communicate those facts with them. Let them know how drugs can affect their health and overall well-being. Sometimes include stories of addicts can help wake them up to their drug use and be open to accepting help. 

2) Make it Think It’s Their Decision

While encouraging your loved one to go to rehab, you should never push or force them. After talking about the advantages of rehab, ask them questions. Allow them to share their thoughts and feelings on the matter. Try not to get mad at their thoughts or questions. 

This is a difficult time for both of you, which can help bring you closer together. Allow your loved one to be open and honest with you. Allow them to feel the pain associated with their drug abuse. This may be a cry for help.

Gently bring up the subject of going to rehab, and see how they feel about that idea. Ask them if they feel they would benefit from a drug rehab setting, and allow them to think on that idea. Give them the love and support they need, so they can make that decision for themselves. 

3) Have an Honest Conversation

It’s important to have an open and honest conversation with your loved one about their drug addiction. Be honest about how it’s affecting you and their other loved ones. They may realize how their drug addiction may be hurting themselves, but they may not realize how much it’s hurting you. Show that you care about them by showing your concern. 

You should emotionally move them with your words, action, and love. Explain why you think rehab would benefit them and that you want what’s best for them. If you don’t tell them how you’re really feeling about their drug addiction, they’ll never know. And they’ll probably never consider rehab. 

This is not the time to yell at them or to put them down. Have a heart-to-heart conversation with them, and allow your thoughts and feelings to come to the surface. 

4) Stage an Intervention

If nothing else works, then an intervention is the best way to encourage a loved one to seek rehab. An intervention consists of family members and close friends who address their loved one’s drug abuse with the main goal of helping them get into rehab. You can hire an intervention specialist to help you if you don’t feel comfortable staging an intervention yourself. 

They can also tell you how the meeting should be organized or guided. Interventions are not to point the finger at the user or the people attending. It also shouldn’t be used to put people on the spot. It’s a time where everyone shares their feelings about their addiction and try to come up with a solution. Staging an intervention is the best way to encourage a loved one to enter rehab because it proves to them they have a problem and others care about them. 

At Purpose Healing Center in Scottsdale, we help people to make the best choices with the right addiction recovery program. No matter how you encourage your loved one to go to rehab, never place the blame and always offer support. Make your loved one feel comfortable and supported by their decision. They need to take the plunge and make the decision that could save their life. Let them know that they’re not alone and that this decision means a lot to you. It will take a little love, patience, and persistence.