Steps to Convince Someone to Go to Addiction Treatment

When a person becomes concerned about a loved one’s drinking or drug use, it can be difficult to know what to do. Trying to convince someone to go to rehab can result in any number of scenarios, inducing fear, reluctance, or indecision about the best ways to help the loved one get treatment through professional rehab.

These hesitations can be cleared up with a few pieces of advice that may help family or friends of a person who is struggling with drug use or addiction find the best way to convince their loved one to enter a treatment program.

Step 1: Learn About Addiction and Treatment

Steps to Convince Someone They Need Drug Rehab

To put it bluntly, it can be difficult to convince someone to go to rehab if the family member or friend initiating the conversation doesn’t know much about addiction and treatment options.

Because of this, the first thing to do is learn about addiction and what causes it, what it does to the individual’s brain and behavior, and why treatment is necessary.

There are a number of elements to take into consideration when researching a loved one’s addiction and treatment options. These include:

  • The mechanism and causes of addiction: The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) is a great resource for understanding what addiction is, how it happens, and what types of intervention are most likely to help an individual recover from it. This can be highly useful in helping someone understand why treatment is needed.
  • The drug or drugs being used: Different drugs have different effects on the individual’s body. Some of these may cause issues with the individual’s ability to focus or process what is being said. Others may cause the person to feel paranoid or be more likely to respond aggressively. Knowing what to expect can help.
  • Whether or not there are co-occurring conditions: If a loved one turned to drugs to self-medicate depression or anxiety, or if there is potential that another mental health disorder is occurring alongside the substance use, it is important to understand how this affects the individual’s behavior and how treatment needs to be adjusted to be most effective under these circumstances.
  • The options for treatment and when they are used: Inpatient care, outpatient treatment, aftercare, therapy, alternative treatments – each of these has a place, depending on the individual’s readiness for treatment, the degree of the drug use or addiction, and whether or not there is a high risk of relapse for the individual. Understanding what each option brings to the table can help in making an informed decision about the type of care that is needed for the individual. Take time to find out more about what to expect in inpatient rehab or outpatient treatment.

State or municipal health and human services departments can be a good source of local information. Working through a reputable, research-based treatment facility can also help point family and friends in the right direction.

Step 2: Make an Intervention Plan

Making a plan for approaching a loved one about an addiction problem can help family or friends to be prepared for anything that may happen during the conversation. Gathering a group of people who can help, and even potentially hiring an intervention specialist to help in developing the plan, can ease the burden of the conversation. It can also provide a united front in convincing the person that family and friends have the loved one’s best interests at heart.

The Association of Intervention Specialists can help in finding a professional trained to plan the event. The treatment center may also have resources that will support the process. In any case, establishing the plan in advance can ensure that family and friends have prepared responses for multiple objections that the individual might raise, making it more likely that the loved one can be convinced of the need for treatment.

Step 3: Be Objective and Control Emotions

It can be easy to become emotional when confronting a loved one about addiction. Many emotions may be brought up. Anger, fear, shame, disappointment, guilt, and other feelings often boil under the surface of the love and hope that motivate the family or friends to intervene. These feelings are natural and understandable.

However, letting these emotions get out of control during the conversation can be counterproductive. For example, if the family member or friend becomes angry and starts yelling, the loved one may also become angry and defensive. This can result in the person closing off any open-mindedness toward what the family and friends are saying.

This does not mean that the family or friends should not be honest in presenting how the individual’s drug use has hurt their relationship. As described through Healthline, objectively and honestly letting the loved one know how the addictive behavior has affected family and friends often comes as a revelation to the loved one, and it can be a powerful tool in convincing the person that help is needed.

Step 4: Avoid Judgment

People who have never had an addiction problem may find it hard to understand why loved ones struggle with addiction. With all of the opinions and ideas about addiction that are presented throughout society, it can be easy to become judgmental of the person who is struggling with addiction and dismissive of the issues that may have led to the problems with drugs and alcohol.

Nevertheless, this judgment should be avoided as much as possible during the conversation. As explained in the book Helping the Addict You Love, judgment of the situation can shut down the conversation. Instead, asking questions and trying to understand the individual’s situation, even if family and friends don’t agree with it, can help establish the loved one’s trust. It can show the person that family and friends are acting out of love and concern, providing the support that is most likely to help the person succeed in treatment.

Step 5: Admit the Individual to Treatment Immediately

Research has shown that getting a person into treatment as soon as willingness is expressed is vital to encouraging a positive start to – and outcome of – the treatment process. Having treatment readily available as soon as the person is willing to enter is considered to be one of NIDA’s Principles of Effective Treatment.

For this reason, getting a treatment program lined up to accept the loved one immediately is an essential element of the planning process before the conversation is started. Selecting a treatment center can involve a good deal of research, using what family and friends have learned about addiction and treatment as a starting point to finding the program.

The professionals who work in research-based, certified treatment programs can provide a great deal of support throughout the process of trying to convince the loved one that treatment is needed, and they can help determine the most appropriate level of care for the individual. They can also help plan for immediate admission to the program as soon as the individual accepts that help is needed.

Step 6: Remember Self-Care

Having a loved one with a drug use problem can be draining and difficult for everyone involved. It is important for family and friends to remember that they also need to practice self-care. A number of organizations and support groups exist to help family and friends process emotions and learn more about living with a loved one who is recovering from addiction. These include:

  • Al-Anon and Nar-Anon
  • Families Anonymous
  • Adult Children of Alcoholics
  • Co-Dependents Anonymous

Other resources may be available through the loved one’s treatment center, including guides for:


If someone you care about is ready for recovery, the team at Sunrise House Treatment Center is ready to help. Our inpatient rehab facility in New Jersey offers multiple levels of addiction treatment including medical detox, residential/inpatient rehab, and aftercare planning. Call a compassionate admissions navigator at to learn more about using insurance to pay for rehab or to find other ways to pay for rehab. Start treatment today.

Was this page helpful?
Thank you for your feedback.

American Addiction Centers (AAC) is committed to delivering original, truthful, accurate, unbiased, and medically current information. We strive to create content that is clear, concise, and easy to understand.

Read our full editorial policy

While we are unable to respond to your feedback directly, we'll use this information to improve our online help.

(0/100)
You aren't alone. You deserve to get help.
Sunrise House is conveniently located in Lafayette, NJ, which is easily accessible from New York City.
Take your next step toward recovery:
✔ learn more about our addiction treatment programs.
✔ see how popular insurance providers such as Cigna or Humana offer coverage for rehab.
view photos of our facilites.