In some respects, rehab for a drug or alcohol addiction is a deeply personal process. At the end of the day, only the individual suffering from addiction can turn things around. However, support is as important as any other factor, which means if you have a loved one facing this kind of journey you should do all you can to help.
I will clarify that I am neither a physician nor therapist. When preparing to help a loved one through addiction, it is absolutely necessary to consult the relevant professionals to make sure you’re handling things properly. But in a very general sense, these are some of the ways in which you can begin to think about preparing for this process.
The first step, of course, should be to help your loved on find the proper facility and the proper care. The hope is that this is something a physician or therapist may be able to have a direct hand in. For personal research, however, you can look here for tools that help you find the right rehab for the right addiction problem. That’s not to say you should simply plug in a search and decide on a facility. But it’s a good place to start as you set about doing research on what sort of treatment center will be best for the situation at hand.
While your loved one is actually in rehab, if he or she is staying at a facility, the most important thing you can do is keep your distance as directed. It can be very hard to “let go,” so to speak, and trust that the right care is being given. But unless the facility welcomes visits or outside contact, you should respect the boundary and let the therapy run its course. In the meantime, you can set about preparing the home to be the best possible environment for after rehab.
The most important thing you can do, as one guide put it, is to take out the trash. That’s not to say literally focus on trash, but rather to suggest that providing a clean (and drug- and alcohol-free) environment is important. Clutter can be stressful even in a small way. It can also provide hiding places for substances, should your loved one lapse at all in his or her rehab. Plus, providing a clean environment reinforces the entire idea of a fresh start.
You’ll also want to provide a comfortable and restful room in case withdrawal symptoms occasionally cause your loved one to feel ill. That mostly means a clean bedroom and a comfortable bed, and you could even provide some additional perks. For instance, if you think your loved one may occasionally want to stay in bed, check this out – you can essentially bring a hospital-style rotating tray table to the home! Now, you don’t want to get carried away with all this. Generally speaking it’s best to keep a recovering addict busy and productive, and encouraging too much time holed up in a bedroom is usually a bad idea. But you at least want to provide a comfortable option in the early going.
And finally, you may also want to consider a little bit of therapy yourself. The emotional burden of caring for a loved one attempting to get over addiction can be a very heavy one, and you need to be at your best in order to help. A little bit of your own therapy can help you maintain clarity, perspective, and emotional strength. Don’t forget that you may well be one of the most reliable assets in the fight against addiction.