Does “the nightmare before Christmas” describe your last holiday with an addicted loved one? The stress of the season can bring out the worst in anyone — especially for those struggling with substance abuse. Everything from arguments to a full-blown relapse is on the table when holiday spirits (literally or figuratively) are running high. If you want to avoid last year’s disaster, though, how do you help? At Transformations Care, we understand why someone struggling with substance abuse might find the holiday season especially challenging. We’ve been there, and we have a few tips to help you support your addicted loved one and encourage their recovery during the holiday season.
1. Encourage Recovery with a Clean & Sober Environment
Whether your spouse or partner is still in their addiction or not, creating a clean and sober environment in your home is crucial. The holidays often revolve around drinking or using, but make this year different by getting rid of all that sh*t. Double check all of your home’s nooks and crannies for any hidden stash of drugs, alcohol, or gear.
In addition, make sure you monitor any medication that could be used to get high. Better yet, keep it out of sight completely. When you open your medicine cabinet, you see a pill bottle. To your addicted spouse, it’s a taunting son of a b***ch that could give them a temporary relief from all of their demons. So, it’s best to put that away in a place where no one (except you!) would know to find it.
Plus, don’t forget to add baking ingredients that contain alcohol to your naughty list. If your holiday season includes a lot of baking, just keep the vanilla extract (or any extract, for that matter) out of sight. For more information on how to create a sober-friendly environment for your addicted spouse, click here.
2. Encourage Your Addicted Partner to Seek Support in a Recovery Group
If you’ve already had a talk with your loved one about their drinking or using problems, you can encourage them to attend recovery support group meetings. (If you haven’t had that talk yet, click here for information on how to approach your partner about substance abuse.) Some support group options are AA (Alcoholics Anonymous), NA (Narcotics Anonymous), or SMART recovery (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, & Time Bound), for example.
In these meetings, your spouse or partner can have an outlet to their drinking or using issues and also get advice from people that have been there. Normies (non-addicts) may not understand completely what it’s like to struggle with addiction, but a sober support group will. There’s a lot of different types of recovery meetings. Some are religion-based, some are “stag” (all-men), but once your partner has found the meeting that fits them, they’ll have support from others as well as you. There are even virtual meetings, so they can easily “attend” from home. To get more information about sober support groups and meetings near you, give us a call!
3. Encourage Your Partner to Go to Residential Addiction Treatment
Most importantly, encourage your addicted spouse to go to residential addiction treatment if they are struggling with substance abuse. Addiction is something that needs to be treated medically and professionally. Don’t wait until after the holidays to encourage your partner to seek treatment. Your partner will only continue on their downward spiral throughout the holidays if they don’t get help now – and they could bring you down with them.
Addiction recovery is possible for anyone, but only with the right help. At Transformations Care, we will take your husband or wife in and get down to the root of their problems. We use a dual-diagnosis approach to treat not only the addiction, but the mental health problems that may be causing it. With addiction treatment from us, your partner will come back to you with a refreshed life — a life without drugs and alcohol. With our addiction treatment program, and your encouragement, you and your spouse can live a better life.
If you or a loved one are struggling with substance abuse, reach out to us today. At Transformations Care we can get your partner sober so you can spend the rest of your holidays living a better life with a partner in recovery. Give us a call today at 424.339.0965 — you might just save your spouse’s life.
GUIDE
Getting Clean & Sober at Home
Today, more than 75% of hospitals and healthcare providers offer access to telehealth treatment, with 29 states having gone so far as to enact telehealth parity laws, which force insurance companies to reimburse patients for telehealth at the same rates as they would for in-person treatment.
If you’ve been thinking about getting clean and sober, or if you’ve been wanting to work on and strengthen the recovery you already have, it’s never been easier to do it through telehealth.
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