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Addiction touches the lives of virtually everyone at some point. The people caught up in addiction are not bad people, they just made some bad choices. There are hundreds if not thousands of different types of addictions and they affect people from every walk of life, every economic class, black, white, blue collar, white collar, all are affected the same way. We at Bethesda have primarily worked with people caught up in addictions to drugs and alcohol.
The goal as a life coach is not to provide counseling to the addict and his or her family but to help them as they fight to be free of this weight they must carry every day. We do not try to go back and figure out why these bad choices were made, but we move forward. We provide short term goals, tools the addicts and their families can use to pursue sobriety, and ways to make life better beginning now.
One very important aspect of the addiction coaching is understanding about teenagers and abuse/addiction. One statewide survey from Illinois reported that 78% of high school upperclassmen had their first drink before they were sixteen. Another major problem with teenagers is the rise of prescription drug abuse. May teens attend pharm parties in which all the attendees raid the medicine cabinets of their families and pool all the drugs and just take a handful not even knowing what they are ingesting.
As coach another goal is to help the family whether the addict wants help or not. Many families know and understand very little about addiction and many times aid the addict in staying in their addiction when their heart's desire is to help them be free. We will walk with the families and help them learn how to live their lives despite what a loved one may be doing.
The family will be given information in how to recognize and assess the extent of the problem, how to work through their feelings rather than give in to emotional turmoil, treatment options, and how to use tough love.
They also will learn to focus on the solution and not the problem.
We can also help if the legal system is involved. It is often a confusing situation when law enforcement and the court system are involved. We can offer some understanding of the process and help walk the family through this difficult time.
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