About Me

Overcoming Obstacles At Home

I have never been the kind of person for whom parenting comes easy, especially since I have a few stepchildren. It has been really difficult to bond with them, and I realized that it was going to take a huge amount of effort to overcome our differences. I started working hard to improve myself, and one of my therapists emphasized the importance of self-help. She talked with me about being able to recognize and address my own shortcomings, and it was a really powerful move in the right direction for me. This website is here to help other people to understand self-help techniques and address issues early.

Overcoming Obstacles At Home

4 Tips For Parents Of Adult Addicts

by Martha Wilson

If you are the parent of an adult addict, you know the struggle to protect them is challenging. After all, you cannot completely control what your child is going to do once they reach adulthood. However, there are some things that you can do to help your child get on their way to recovery. Here are four tips for doing this:

  1. Don't Give Them Money: If your child often comes over asking for money and you know that the money is not going to go to anything useful in your child's life, then do not give it to them. If you are worried about them being able to afford food or medical costs, then pay for those things up-front instead of giving the money to your child in hopes that this is what they will use the money on. If you are able to, you should also offer to pay for rehab, but let them know you will not be giving them any money outside of that. 
  2. Don't Let Your Child Live With You: If you know that your child is an addict, do not allow them to live in the house with you, especially if it's for free. You can attempt to charge them rent. However, if they are addicted to any kind of drug, most likely they will not be paying rent because the money will all be going to supply their bad habit. Just like you shouldn't give them money, you shouldn't let them live with you for free. Although this means that they could end up living in a poor situation, it could scare them enough to go to rehab. 
  3. Remember You Can't Help Anyone If They Don't Want It: Even though it is your own child, you need to accept that nobody, no matter what their relationship with you, will want help from you if they cannot even help themselves. This is challenging for many parents because they want to help their children be successful. However, the most you can do is keep your distance until your child actually wants to go to rehab and get the help that they need. 
  4. Let Your Child Know You Support Them: Always remind your child that you care. They may not reciprocate, especially if they are currently under the influence of drugs or alcohol, but if they are reminded of your support, it can make the decision of going into rehab a bit easier for them once they do figure out that it is something they need. 

Taking these steps as a parent of an adult addict is going to help guide your child to take the right steps and go to rehab. Although the journey there is challenging, you can sign up for counseling to help reinforce these tips to help keep you on track despite the emotional rollercoaster the situation may be putting you on. Don't forget to also look up advice given from rehab advisors, especially if your child does end up in rehab. You will want to know how to handle life with them after their treatment, as well. 

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