Where is the line between helping, supporting, enabling, and having empathy for someone struggling with an addiction? We're going to shed a little light on this for you so you can figure out what's helping and what's enabling.

I'm going to give you five reasons why being kind to someone, showing empathy, and even giving positive reinforcement can them figure out that they have an addiction problem way faster than when you try to do it more directly.

We get so frustrated and impatient dealing with someone who has an addiction because it's so clearly right there and it's just mind-blowing because the person with the addiction, can't see it.  The more you push and try to get them to see the issue faster, the longer it takes them to get out of denial. When you come at someone directly like that, they immediately put their walls up and they get defensive. They'll no longer hear, listen, or even consider what you're saying. It's almost like a reflex even if they don't...

How do you rebuild trust after addiction has come in and destroyed your family? These are the foundational things that have to be there if you want to rebuild trust. I'll advise both sides-- the person that's addicted and the family. 

Believe it or not, this is a two-way distrustful situation. The person with the abuse problem feels like their trust has been broken too. That's the thing about addiction, it causes chaos, heartbreak, and no one comes out of it unscathed.

I'm going to tell you what you need to do as an addicted person first. This isn't going to be easy to hear or easy to implement. But it is necessary!

1. The first (most important) thing you need to do is OWN UP to the damage you've caused. When you cause distress to the people that you love, they need to hear that you understand the depth and magnitude of what kind of position you put them in. You have to be vulnerable about this. You made choices along the way that got you in this situation, right? It's time to...

These five common communication mistakes are probably damaging your relationships. In fact, you may be doing them automatically but it's pushing people away from you. We're going to start from the least problematic and go to the most problematic mistake. I think you're going to be surprised by the fifth one, you're going to be like I can't believe a counselor said that but I think it's an important one!

When you hear these common mistakes people make, you're going to think, "oh I've done that before!" and it's okay because I've done all of these things before too. Anyone can benefit from understanding these five mistakes.

The first common communication mistake is the one-upper or relating to someone's story too soon. This one is probably the one that I'm most guilty of doing. For example, someone says, "oh my gosh I had the worst day!" Then they start telling you about their bad day and you start to relate to that because you're like "oh yeah I know what that's like"....

It's always easy looking from the outside-in to know what
someone else should do. Take it from me, a counselor, this is what I do all-day
every day. You don't need to be a counselor to be good at this, promise!

If you're watching a loved one, a friend, family member struggle with something, it's hard not to just jump in there and want to either fix it or tell them how to fix it. That can be a landmine of a situation.

You've probably stepped in it before, haven't you? I know that I have! When you offer someone advice there's a particular way that you need to go about it, otherwise, you're going to come across as a know-it-all, judgmental, or critical. Even worse, you're
going to get Charlie Brown'd... "Wah wah wah". They're not going to listen to you anyway, so in this video, I’m going to talk to you about what formula to use to give someone a piece of advice in a way that's going to feel helpful and supportive instead of critical and judgmental.

If you take no other piece of...

Have you ever been told, "You just need to get to an al-anon meeting"? If you know me, you know that I'm a fan of ANY way to get recovery so let me be clear, I'm not knocking Al-Anon. 

With that being said, one of the biggest frustrations that I hear from families when they're trying to get help for their addicted loved one is someone telling them to go to the AL-ANON meetings. I know people think they're being helpful, but honestly, it feels insulting.

If you're wanting to give someone advice, let me give you some tips and strategies for someone that is going through this. 

1. Ask more questions either for yourself to fully understand the situation or to help the other person clarify what's going on.

2. Validate their feelings, if you were in their situation you would probably feel similar to how they feel. 

3. Relate to their situation. Help them feel like you've been there before which makes them feel not alone and connected. 

4. Tell them the...

This live video with Campbell Manning will have you shocked at the depth of denial some of these families had.

We always think about denial being an issue that happens to people with drug or alcohol addiction, but denial happens to family members too.

We, as family members we see the signs and symptoms, but it's easy to rationalize it away. When you look at the big picture, you'll easily be able to see that you're dealing with a bigger problem. Most families don't want the problem to be addiction and that's what will keep a lot of families in denial. This denial will allow the addiction to continue on. Watch the video to find out how to spot denial and what to do about it. 

Amber Hollingsworth

Get Access To FREE Addiction Recovery Resources! 

Do you confront your loved one? Do you throw it away? Do you just leave it where it is? What do you do when you find your addicted loved ones hidden stash. 

In this video, I give you practical ways to deal with this without starting a power struggle between you and your loved one. I think what I'm going to tell you is going to surprise you.

Learn how to talk with your loved ones about their addiction without arguing. https://www.familyrecoveryacademy.online/motivational-interviewing-session

Amber Hollingsworth

If addiction is not a moral issue, why do people have to work on their character defects as part of their recovery in the 12-steps? Do character defects cause addiction, or does addiction cause character defects? Why do addicts and alcoholics behave so selfishly? 

These questions open up a complex discussion. Personality, character, and behavior are interwoven in the stereotype of addicts.

Loved ones of addicted people say, "She/he never used to be like this before his addiction”. So what's behind our current character and its expression through behaviors? Let's take a closer look at this video to find out the answer to these questions and more!

Amber Hollingsworth

Dig deeper into your strengths and weakness in our DiscoverU Minicourse.  Use code: LEARNMORE to get a 20% discount

Get Access To FREE Addiction Recovery Resources! 

We're going to be looking behind the scenes of addiction recovery. Family recovery coach Scott Nunnery will be sharing about his personal journey having two sons struggle with addiction, and also what he's learned since beginning to work in the field, trying to help others struggling with an addicted loved one.

Amber Hollingsworth

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

To make an appointment with Scott (or any of our recovery specialists): https://www.familyrecoveryacademy.online/consultations

Download Scotts Do's and Dont's Checklist For Rebuilding Trust in Family Recovery: https://www.familyrecoveryacademy.online/scott-s-do-s-and-don-ts