Finding out your child is into drugs is hard but what follows is even harder; getting them back on the right track. It’s devastating, but you have to be strong for yourself and your child.
Here are four tips for helping you get your child back on track while saving your relationship.
1. Strengthen Your Relationship
People who are struggling from addiction don’t often care about the negative outcome drug consumption will have on them or anyone near them. These actions can sometimes be damaging to personal and professional relationships. You can fight this if you strengthen and rebuild the relationship.
This can be accomplished through open communication. Good communication helps you asses the issue early and deal with it properly. Assertive communication also includes a balance of asking a question and actively listening to lead to a productive conversation.
You May Also Like
Try open-ended and non-judgemental questions. An open-ended question is one that can’t be answered with a yes or no. Open-ended questions are helpful as they improve communication and exchange ideas. These questions have the goal of learning more about the child and make space for you to also express your concern, struggle, and hopes. Keep these tips in mind:
- Be engaged and focussed
- Show a sense of acceptance and understanding
- Be kind and respectful
- Get rid of distractions
- Focus on the good
- Diminish negative reactions
2. Encourage Positive Behavior
Focusing on the mistakes and poor decisions of your child can create lower self-esteem and decreased sense of personal power for them. It can even potential worsen their condition and push them into heavier drug use. Emphasize the positives to encourage positive behavior.
Using encouragement and optimizing builds a sense of cooperation while killing conflict and negativity.
- Try New Healthy Coping Skills
- Engage in New Activity
- Build More Appropriate Peer Relationships
- Face Issues
3. Encourage Through Positive Messages
Encouragement is not based on comparing someone to others, solving their issues for them, or talking about their past failures. Instead, it’s about focusing on using messages that remind them:
You May Also Like
- You can do it
- You have value
- You are smart
Keep these messages in mind when interacting. You must make your communication empowering. Don’t be critical and defeating. Communicate in a way which conveys you want your child to develop into their full potential. This is especially necessary for people who are recovering from alcohol addiction.
You need to win the confidence of your child by doing some research on treatment and help them find their way to the best treatment option for them. You can offer additional support by attending some appointments or therapies with them.
4. Come up with Guidelines
In working to ensure your child doesn’t fall back into addiction, it’s important to keep their trust. Once trust has been established, create and reinforce guidelines that will help your child to have better control. Give them some time to change their behavior and help them with their rehab needs.
Be open. This process is hard on everyone and will take time, patience, and love.
