Talking to a recovering alcohol addict – Alcohol Rehabs in British Columbia and Alberta – Options Okanagan Treatment Centers in Kelowna, British Columbia treating alcohol, drug, opiate, fentanyl, heroin addiction and recovery.
Alcohol Rehabs In Alberta And BC
Understanding the powerful nature of an addiction can be challenging, for those of us who are not afflicted by mental illness. It may therefore feel awkward when interacting with an alcoholic. Trying to use irrelevant topics to fill a discussion with a recovering alcoholic is normal. To help ease the uncertainty, keep the following list of guidelines in mind.
Talk Normally
The pal in question remains your pal. Just like you, he is human. After a friend of yours, who suffers from osteoporosis or diabetes, returns from a month long treatment program, would you feel uncomfortable around them? Unlikely. Discuss your shared interests when talking to a friend, who is also a recovering alcoholic, with whom you’ve always enjoyed seafood and sports.
Keep things simple when it comes to discussing the alcoholic’s time in rehab. Anonymous fellowship literature, AA slogans, other recovering alcoholics, life lessons etc. surround the alcoholic while in a rehab center. It’s likely that he/she is ready to talk about normal stuff once he is free of the full-time focus on recovery. Everyone isn’t the same in this regard however.
If you share a close bond with a recovering alcoholic, consider the following from this point onwards:
1. Distinguish Helping From Enabling: If you are about to do something for him/her, such as covering the debt owned on their credit card for the month, is something they can handle on their own if they got rid of the overdependence on alcohol. By following through you will be doing yourself and your alcoholic friend wrong if the answer is to the affirmative. The addict’ motivation to be accountable for their own behavior is eliminated by enablers who step in to “resolve” the problems of the addict.
2. Be Objective: In your mind separate your friend from the problem of alcoholism he/she is struggling with. You can even view him/her as a person with two brain hemispheres, a logical side and an alcoholic one. Attribute to their alcoholic wiring, any talk you identify with their alcoholic brain. You can separate their lucid self from any alcoholic behavior.
3. When They Relapse, Don’t Overreact: You might end up pushing your friend into social withdrawal and isolation if you yell at him/her for going back to their drunken ways. The alcoholic’s focus on your anger and words will depend on the severity of your reaction a stronger reaction results in a stronger focus. On the other hand, the alcoholic will be forced to think about their actions if you do not overreact to the relapse.
4. Establish Boundaries: Threatening an alcoholic about the consequences of a relapse isn’t necessary. To set out the details of your new boundaries after your friend leaves rehab, use a light and friendly conversation. Take the time to explain that the boundaries are the result of beneficial differentiation and not a type of punishment.
Relapses occur after rehab, in most cases. Relapsing is in usually likely and not just possible given the chronic nature of this condition. A relapse does not simply mean that the process was ineffective.
If you are there to see the difficulties your friend faces once he/she goes back to their old ways, it’s only normal for you to want to offer assistance. Strengthen your resolve by remembering that “the only behaviors you can control are your own” the basic principle on which AA is founded. Without being an enabler, focus on being a great friend. You don’t have to choose between loving your pal and establishing healthy boundaries.
Alcohol Addicted in Alberta and BC
Contact us, at Options Okanagan if you would like to learn more about alcoholism, or are in search of answers relating to the rehab process. You will get the best quality care, and all the answers you seek from our admissions counselors, who are ready to help.
Alcohol Addiction in Alberta and BC
Teen Addiction in Edmonton and Calgary in Alberta and BC
Options Okanagan Opiate and Alcohol Treatment Centers in Kelowna, Salmon Arm and Vancouver, British Columbia – Men and Women are recovering and healing from Alcohol and Drug Abuse at our treatment center here in the Okanagan right now.
Our unique and distinctive Opiate Drug and Alcohol treatment program allows men and women to come in from Calgary as well as Edmonton as we offer airport pickup.
Numerous clients come to us from Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton and other locations in Alberta and even other provinces for Opiate addiction treatment, heroin drug treatment, many other drug and alcohol addictions for rehabilitation because of the uniqueness of our treatment center.
Our Alcohol Treatment Location:
Options Okanagan Drug and Alcohol Treatment Center
551 Sherrydale Crescent, Kelowna, British Columbia, V1V 2E6
Toll Free Phone Number : 1-855-335-0331