Trying to help when a loved-one is going through addiction can be a discouraging feeling. There are some things you can do to encourage and ease the burden of your child who is going through something like this.
The main thing to remember when your family is dealing with a member going through addiction is to keep communicating. When the entire family knows what’s going on, and the parents and children are all being 100% honest with one another, there will be less room for mistakes. The teen will also feel more support this way. If the whole family talks about the daily triumphs and setbacks together that they experience, it will help the teen to not be shameful and secretive about their addiction and also realize that their actions affect the whole family. It is important to be persistent when it comes to communicating with your teen. Many teens don’t talk to their parents on their own, so you need to be constantly reminding them that you want to know what’s going on in their lives.
One problem that many parents encounter with teens is defiance. The first step to conquering the addiction is to get your teen to recognize that it is harming them in some way. If they feel forced to go through a recovery program, they are a lot less likely to stick to it and truly recover. They need to see the value in quitting themselves, so that they can become motivated and self-aware. Once they have that, they will be more prepared to face the hard times that are ahead in the quitting process. It is also important that you are not the only one wanting this because they will feel like you, as a parent, are not on their side. If your teen understands that you want to help them, and do what’s best for them, they will be able to trust you and be more open with you.
Making sure that your teen is not around people that will encourage the old behavior will help your teen to not go back to old habits. The teen needs to be surrounded by positive examples in order to replace their bad habits with good ones. Go with them to try rock climbing, hiking, biking, scrapbooking, or other new hobbies so that they can have positive experiences instead of just sitting around trying not to think about their addictions.
Get to know your son or daughter’s addiction so well that you can tell what their triggers are, reasons for starting, and weaknesses. The more you know, the more you can help. If you have questions regarding something specific, you counselor will be able to help you better than if you go to him or her with a vague question.
In times like this, teens usually have wavering self-esteems. Regardless of the situation, make sure that they always know their potential and worth. Let them know how much you love them, and recognize all the positive things they do in life. Positive reinforcement will help to keep them going when times get rough, so make sure you’re giving them enough in this area.
Overall, being there for your son or daughter through their addiction recovery will help more than you know. Click here to learn more about boarding schools for teen addiction to see if it’s right for you.
Author Bio- Camryen Walker has been working with troubled teens for 10 years now. She loves to see the changes that can happen when a teen recognizes their own worth and believes in themselves.