Tips for Parents with Children in Drug Rehab

Finding out that your teenage son or daughter is addicted to drugs is devastatingly heartbreaking. Seeing their children deteriorate right before their eyes is something that hurts them as well. And for some, the decision to put their children in a drug rehab facility is equally difficult.

Aside from the heartbreak, disappointment, shame, and anger of finding out your children is addicted to drugs, deciding to put them into rehab has its share of challenges as well. There’s the decision to put your children in the hands of other people, professionals but still practically strangers. There’s also the issue of stopping school, friends and family finding out, and of course the costs. Add these to the uncertainty of what lies ahead once their children gets into the drug rehab.

If you are parents with children who are in drug rehab, here are important tips that you can use to help you weather this storm as you wait for your children to get treatment to overcome drug addiction.

Tips for Parents with Children in Drug Rehab

Here are a few precious tips that can help you cope while your children are in drug rehab.

1. Equip yourself with knowledge. All that worrying will get you nowhere, especially when this is grounded on hearsay and stereotypes. What you need to do is to learn as much as you can about your children’s addiction and the treatment thet are getting. Find out the addiction’s impact on your children and how you can be a positive support system for them once they complete treatment in the drug rehab facility.
2. Don’t hesitate to ask. Sending your children to a drug rehab can be a very new experience for you. You may have a lot of misgivings and questions, so don’t hesitate to voice them out. Whenever you visit the drug rehab facility, it would help to list down your questions so things can be clarified, confusion is avoided, and you will have some form of peace of mind.
3. Watch out for manipulation. Once your children gets into drug rehab, they may try a few tricks to get what they want, such as privileges, and even get out of the facility. They will lie and manipulate you to pity them, worry, get confused, or doubt the treatment process. They may even try threats, begging, and some can even starve or hurt themselves. Listen to your teen, but make sure to work closely with the counselor or rehab professional so that you don’t get sidetracked from your goals, to help your child save their lives.
4. Actively participate in the process. Addiction rehab has helped millions of people overcome addiction. While it’s a painful, arduous process and some even repeatedly relapse, it’s been proven that treatment works. What you need to do is to trust the process, but also actively participate in your child’s treatment and progress. This is important especially as your children nears treatment completion and are preparing to re-enter society.
5. Have a plan for them post-drug rehab. Work closely with the drug rehab facility to formulate a plan on what will happen to your children after they finish treatment. Make sure you have a clear-cut plan and that you stick to them. This includes making them continue to attend meetings, keeping contact with their support system as well as with the rehab for therapy and counselling.
6. Watch out for triggers. In rehab, your children will be taught and reminded of essential life skills which they need in order to cope with different real-life situations without having to resort to drugs, which is what they used to do before. However, it’s not easy, especially if you have children who have been using drugs for years. Therefore, you have to watch out for behaviors and situations that may trigger them and cause relapse. This means you have to also make adjustments in your life, your attitudes and behavior, as well as your home. You should also make sure that everyone in your family is on board to provide a positive and strong support system for your children, especially when the time comes that they leave the drug rehab facility.
7. It’s not an overnight cure. Drug rehab is not a cure for addiction. Change doesn’t also happen overnight. So be prepared for struggles, especially in the first months to first few years after leaving the rehab facility. Managing your own expectations will help them, and you, to adjust and make the right choices in supporting your children as they try to recover from addiction.

If you are a parent and you still haven’t sought treatment for your addicted child, it’s not too late. This could be the turning point for you and your child. Call us at 09175098826 to know your options.