Confession is supposed to be good for your soul, but you still have to get past the fear of opening up about your problems to enjoy the benefits of honesty. Telling your parents potentially upsetting news is never fun, but it is possible that they’ve already picked up on the possibility that you might be struggling with alcohol. You may also need to rely upon them for emotional or financial support as you work on getting sober. Talking to your parents about your alcohol addiction will be easier when you know how to bring up the topic gently and explain what you are doing to get help.
The first thing you’ll want to do is plan for how and when you’ll talk to your parents. As you think about this, be sure to include these strategies in your plans.
- Choose the right timing.
- Pick a comfortable place to talk.
- Make sure you are sober.
- Be completely honest.
- Apologize for any mistakes you’ve made.
- Explain what you are doing to get sober.
- Encourage their support but give them time to accept the situation.
While it might be tempting to just toss out your news when your parents are too busy to turn it into a long discussion, this method can backfire. The main reason to let your parents know about your alcohol addiction is to hopefully gain their support. Giving them time to process what you say and come to a point of acceptance helps you to achieve your goal. You’ll also want to make sure that you are completely sober.
This helps you to maintain control over your emotions if things don’t go as easy as you hope. If you feel as though your conversation with your parents might turn negative or that you’ll lose your nerve to tell them, then you have several options to address this issue. First, you could choose to write them a letter. If you do this option, then you’ll still want to make sure to follow it up with a conversation once they reach out. Your second choice would be to ask someone to accompany you to the meeting with your parents. This could be a sibling, living partner or professional interventionist. The point is to have someone who can help you feel supported and that might step in if you start to falter with your words.
Develop Closer Family Relationships In Sobriety
Working through challenges together is what families are all about. When a child has an addiction, parents sometimes blame themselves or wonder where they went wrong. It is also possible that you’ve done things while you were using alcohol that hurt your parents or caused them to worry about your wellbeing. Finally telling your parents about your addiction eases your burden, and you’ll find that it opens the doors for healing. Family involvement is important for helping you to learn how to deal with your addiction. Once your parents know about your challenges with alcohol and decision to seek treatment, they can join you in your journey by attending family counseling sessions. They can also help you with other needs such as providing you with transportation to and from your treatment center or just making regular phone calls that let you know that you are not alone.
After hiding your alcohol addiction, being able to talk freely with your parents also helps you to strengthen your relationship. Secrets often cause families to spend more time apart or be careful what they say about their lives. Now, you can attend those family gatherings without fear or shame. You can show up for birthdays or holidays without fearing that someone might notice that you have a few drinks too many or seem hungover. As you get further in sobriety, you’ll notice that being able to live authentically allows you to do more things with your parents and see them in a new light. You may also find that opening up to your parents is the first step to renewing your relationship with other family members. If you miss having a close relationship with your siblings, uncle or aunt, then your parents can hep pave the way towards mending all of your connections in the family.
Do you need help telling your parents about your alcohol addiction? If so, then give us a call today at 833-846-5669. Helping families heal through addiction treatment services is what our team does best!