How Do I Get a Family Member to Go to Drug Rehabilitation?

Watching family members struggle with drug addictions can be absolutely heartbreaking and scary. You’re watching loved ones throw their lives away and give up on their hopes and dreams. In order to tackle this issue, you want to learn how to convince your loved ones to go to drug rehabilitation.

Convincing Family Members to Go to Rehab

Depending upon your relatives’ current perceptions of their own situation with addiction, you may have an easier or more difficult time promoting the idea of rehab. In simpler situations, your relatives may be relieved that you made the suggestion and immediately enroll in a program. With more challenging scenarios, you can employ some smart strategies:

  • Directly addressing the issue
  • Intervening with other loved ones
  • Articulating concerns
  • Setting ultimatums
  • Seeking professional guidance

Combining two or more of these techniques can increase your chances of successfully convincing loved ones to enter rehab.

Directly Addressing the Issue

Having conversations about drug addiction and rehabilitation can feel uncomfortable, which is why some people dance around the topic. Proceeding in this fashion, however, can diminish the serious nature of the drug addiction. While you shouldn’t come verbally charging at your relatives in a condescending tone, you should be clear and firm about what the issues are. Directly state that you believe your family members should go to rehab and why you feel this step is necessary.

Intervening with Other Loved Ones

If you’ve noticed that your family members have issues with drug addiction, other people probably have too. Gather the person’s closest relatives and friends together to intervene. Being the only other person in the conversation could mean that your relative blames you for the problems or says that you’re making the issue up. Another reason for a group effort is to show your loved one that there is a community of support available at home.

Articulating Concerns

You have to be specific in explaining why your relative’s addiction to drugs is a problem. If your family member has hurt you, neglected responsibilities, physically damaged the home, or lost a job because of the drug addiction, you must state these problems. You should also talk about the ways in which drug addiction has hindered your relationship with this individual. When people are addicted to drugs, they might think that they are not hurting anyone aside from themselves and then use this idea as a way to fight against going to rehab. Show the many ways in which drug addiction is harming the larger family unit.

Setting Ultimatums

As difficult as doing so is, you also need to let your loved ones know what will happen if they choose not to seek rehab. For example, if your loved ones are not going to go to rehab, you might have to stop financially supporting them or even spending time with these individuals. You have to set clear boundaries and consequences. More importantly, you must follow through with what you say. As painful as separating yourself from loved ones is, you are ultimately taking this step out of love and concern.

Seeking Professional Guidance

Convincing family members to go to drug rehab is not easy. You may be having a conversation with a person who is seriously opposed to a rehab program. Fortunately, you can ask professionals for guidance. You might have a conversation with a representative at a drug rehab facility about strategies to use to try to convince your relative. Another possibility is that you’ll want a representative from the facility present when you and your other relatives intervene.

This representative might be able to provide your loved one with detailed information about the program. It’s entirely normal to feel overwhelmed and anxious when it comes to talking to your loved ones about their drug addictions and the need to enroll in a rehab program. Remember that you are taking this step because you want your loved ones to get healthy and to have better lives. Also, you don’t have to feel alone. Call 833-497-3812 to get more direction and guidance from a professional today.