What should I do when my loved one comes home from rehab?
Nov 11, 2015 · The first few months of recovery are especially critical for your loved one, and can be some of the most difficult. Don’t come swinging right out of the gate and push your loved one to do too much too soon. Give him or her time to heal and solidify a path to health and recovery. Be Afraid Of Triggering A Relapse: This is a big one!
How can I help my husband in his recovery from addiction?
Apr 25, 2015 · When you look at it that way, it’s no surprise to learn that most relapses take place only weeks after leaving rehab. Helping Your Loved One Adjust. Before your loved one leaves rehab, he will sit down with counselors and develop a detailed aftercare plan. This will make his transition back into the “real” world much easier.
How long does it take to relapse after leaving rehab?
Sep 02, 2014 · Family members need to figure out what their part is in the recovery process, and they have to understand they can’t fix or change their loved one. All they can do is change themselves. Family members need to understand that they need to be patient with their loved one. Recovery is a process—not an event; so don’t expect a miracle.
Should I come in and save my husband from Relapse?
May 27, 2012 · A spouse’s return from inpatient drug treatment can be a joyous but difficult time. Drug rehab is only the first step in addicts’ long-term recovery processes, and their spouses need to be ready to provide constant love, support, and understanding. This can a difficult task even for the most happily-married people, but it is crucial for preventing relapse.
What is the best thing a family can do?
When family members understand they are powerless over their loved one’s addiction, they’ve taken the first step towards helping their loved one. Many families try hard to help. But as they try, they often enable their loved one in the process.
Do families send loved ones to treatment?
So sometimes families do send their loved one to treatment in an appropriate way, but sometimes they push them when they’re not ready and the person is resentful early in recovery. Most of what we tell families is to give the addict room to recover. Certainly talk about the problem, but don’t try to micro manage it.
What is the role of spouse in addiction?
The Right Social Network. Spouses may play the most influential roles in addicts’ lives, but other people can have profound effects on their recoveries. If an intervention was necessary for an addict to attend inpatient drug treatment, the other participants should continue to provide friendship and encouragement.
Why is drug rehab important?
This can a difficult task even for the most happily-married people, but it is crucial for preventing relapse. To provide for the highest likelihoods of sobriety and happiness, ...
How to prevent unmanageable cravings?
To prevent unmanageable cravings, addicts’ spouses should take care to remove the triggers that probably exist throughout their homes. Some items are obvious – bottles of alcohol, drugs, and drug paraphernalia. However, others are more difficult to spot. It may be necessary to hide or remove prescription medications and even over-the-counter drugs. It might also be important to get rid of certain music, electronics, or artwork which remind the addict of getting high.
Do you need to go to rehab for drug addiction?
Most married couples face a great deal of strife when one person develops a drug addiction. The family therapies provided at rehab centers may be a good start to fixing these problems, but longer-term counseling will probably be necessary. To ensure the survival of their marriages, spouses should contact counselors before addicts return from rehab. They shouldn’t force the issue at first, but eventual sessions might be necessary for the relationships to last.
On This Page
Rehab was the first big step, but now it’s time for recovery. The excitement of feeling empowered by being sober is the honeymoon phase when people just out of treatment are optimistic but may have unrealistic expectations. It’s also a time of adjustment for family members who don’t know what to expect.
Plan for Success During Recovery
Knowing what to do when a loved one comes home after a month or more at a residential facility helps ease the transition. One of the most important tasks at hand is to sit down as a family and agree on responsibilities. Fresh out of treatment, a person in recovery needs a schedule and a plan for free time.
Addiction Treatment and After Care
If your family member has not yet been to rehab, the best way to help him out of addiction is to connect him with effective, evidence-based treatment. Contact us at Michael’s House today to learn more about how we can help your loved one begin the healing process after addiction.
What to expect when spouse comes home after rehab?
Likely the spouse coming home after rehab feels some reticence and worries how the interpersonal dynamic will be altered now that they’re sober. Be intentional about showing love and affection and consistently expressing love, despite the challenges that may be experienced during the healing journey.
How to support a spouse in rehab?
In order to fully support a loved one in rehab and ensuing recovery, carve out personal time to do things you enjoy. This helps to maintain a healthy outlook, retain optimism, and keep life well-rounded and filled with satisfying activities and friends. This way, there’s always something to look forward to, and there’s less likelihood that the non-addicted spouse will suffocate the recovering spouse in the process. When the loved one is attending meetings, for example, being able to do the things that bring you pleasure will soften that absence. In this way, both of you will be doing things that are crucial to staying healthy.
What is needed to support a loved one in rehab?
To support a loved one in rehab includes many things, although love and caring are at the top of the list. Yet, more than caring is needed in the rehab and recovery journey. Both the recovering individual and his or her spouse and family are intricately involved in recovery, as addiction affects the entire family.
What are the red lines for a recovering spouse?
Since the risks of relapse are real, it’s important to draw a clearly defined set of red lines (boundaries) to ensure there won’t be any enabling of destructive behaviors on the part of the recovering spouse, should they start again. Know firmly what will not be tolerated, such as squandering mortgage money on drugs or gambling, bailing the person out of jail after a DUI or arrest, or frequent hospitalizations due to alcohol-related injuries. Physical abuse or psychological distress should never be allowed to continue. A plan is definitely required to make sure the non-addicted spouse has a ready means of handling the situation, even leaving the home environment should it become violent or unstable.
Is it scary to go to rehab?
Going to Treatment Is a Step of Faith and Can Be Scary. When the addicted spouse finally makes the decision to seek help, it’s a cause for reluctant joy. Granted, this isn’t an easy decision for anyone to make, as going to rehab is both uncertain and scary for the one seeking help, as well as the spouse who wants to support a loved one in rehab.
What is an al anon group?
There are many Al-Anon style groups that provide support for family members of users. This type of support is enormously helpful and can mean the difference between endlessly struggling and burying resentment and finding the strength and resources so vital to ensure a safe and confident foundation in being able to be there for the spouse in rehab. For the spouse of an alcoholic, Al-Anon offers the emotional support and camaraderie of being with spouses of loved ones in rehab. Talking through difficult issues and hearing the success stories and suggestions from others in similar situations make this time feel less lonely and impossible. There’s strength in numbers as well as a sense of solidarity with others who are also in the trenches of addiction and recovery.
How to return home from rehab?
Returning home from rehab is a celebratory event. Make sure the home environment is both welcoming and functional to ensure the best possible re-entry to family life. Eliminate clutter. Perhaps paint a room or two to brighten the surroundings. Be sure there are no remaining alcohol or drug supplies or paraphernalia in the area. These could serve as triggers to use and quickly prompt an unwelcome relapse.
What happens when a family member goes to rehab?
When a member of your household suffers from addiction, the entire family is affected. Helping your loved one make the decision to enter rehab is the first step of healing for everyone involved. After rehab is over, and your family member is ready to return home, there is still more work to do. Now you and the rest of the family will be involved in the continuing success of the addiction recovery program.
What to do when someone comes home from rehab?
When your loved one comes home from rehab, he may still be working on his communications skills, and you can help with that. Have a calm and open conversation about how you would like everyone in the household to behave. Come to an agreement on some ground rules.
Why do people go to rehab?
Rehab can be an intensely personal experience in which people delve into emotions that have been buried for years. Usually, the reason he or she buried those emotions is because they were too painful to face. Rehab requires people to deal with these emotions and understand how they affect their behavior, but sharing those rehab experiences with anyone outside the program can be impossible.
How to help an addict in rehab?
In rehab, addicts learn the importance of being open and honest. Do not keep secrets from your loved one because you think it is better not to talk about certain topics.
What is addiction recovery?
Addiction recovery is about striking a new balance in life after rehab, taking control of your own actions and letting go of the need to control things outside of yourself. Your loved one is working on their internal acceptance, and will then have to figure out how to rebuild relationships with others.
How to help someone in rehab?
Take care of yourself. You cannot be constantly engrossed in someone else’s addiction recovery, even when it is someone you love. Take time out for recreation, rest, fun and emotional release. Supporting a loved one’s transition from rehab back home is a major undertaking.
Can a loved one come home after detox?
Your loved one has successfully completed detox and rehabilitation, so he or she can come home and work on the next stage of recovery. He learned a lot of things about addiction and himself, and started building a new self-relationship – one that is healthy and realistic.