Family & Concerned Significant Others Support
Many people have been stumped, lost, and saddened about how to address a loved one’s addiction or problematic behavior. Research has shown that significant others (anyone who has regular contact with the individual struggling with addiction) can play a positive and supportive role in getting a loved one into some form of treatment, and oftentimes greatly reduce their intake or engagement in their problematic behavior or substance addiction (Cunningham, Sobel, Sobel & Kapur, 1995).
Having a significant other, child, or loved one struggling with addiction can be overwhelming and appear to consume one’s entire life. We provide services to families and loved ones that teach coping skills, self-care, effective communication, and positive reinforcement approaches to best support yourself, and innate positive change in your loved one struggling with addiction. No one knows the addicted person’s behavior patterns better than their loved ones, and positive influence and correctly directed support from significant others, has been shown to give people the highest likelihood of entering some form of treatment (Myers, 2019).
Utilizing approaches from CRAFT (Community Reinforcement and Family Training) and SMART Recovery Friends and Family, we provide guidance and instruction on how loved ones can stay safe, provide positive rewards and how to allow the addicted individual to experience the natural consequences associated with their behavior. Confrontation, demoralizing, and demeaning insults are not effective approaches to motivate someone to achieve lasting change. Likewise, waiting for someone to “hit rock-bottom” is not necessary and can increase the accumulation of subsequent consequences. Research on the CRAFT approach showed almost 7 out of 10 people who follow their program were able to get their substance user to attend some form of treatment (Myers, 2019).
We can’t control someone else’s behavior, but we can control how we respond, cope, and react to our loved one’s behavior. If your loved one is unresponsive or unwilling to seek help, developing a new approach to modify your responses, behavior, and outlook, might be the needed change in helping you stimulate positive change in your loved one and yourself.
We believe positive reinforcement, love, compassion, empathy, and boundaries are crucial to helping individuals make lasting changes in their lives.