Treatment Readiness

READINESS FOR TREATMENT OR COUNSELING

I have worked in the field of addiction for over 20 years. I have families coming to me all the time asking how to get their loved one into counseling or treatment. For a long time, my pat answer was “they have to be ready.” I have come to realize that we may have to help them get ready and there are many ways to do that. If we wait for treatment readiness, that might not ever happen.

Families need to educate themselves and can use community resources to help do that. (such as Al-Anon or Families Anonymous) They also must understand and accept addiction as a Brain Disease in order to help their loved one. National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) does a good job in helping to understand this: https://www.drugabuse.gov/patients-families

In 2014, with the growing Heroin Addiction in Kentucky and resulting overdoses and deaths, families are frantically trying to find help to save their loved one’s lives. A lot of people do not know about Casey’s Law, Matthew Casey died because of drug addiction and his Mother fought to get Casey’s Law in effect. I have worked with some young adults who come in to treatment because their parent used Casey’s Law to force them to be there. They come in very angry and resentful. That often changes after they get there and the realize that treatment is not such a bad place to be and it is sure beats jail. The following links explain Casey’s Law and the legal steps you must do to force your loved one to get help.

https://odcp.ky.gov/Resources/Pages/Caseys-Law.aspxhttp://operationunite.org/treatment/caseys-law/
https://mynewlegacy.com/how-to-use-caseys-law-to-get-your-loved-one-into-treatment/