How to Help an Alcoholic that Resists Traditional Recovery Solutions

Knowing how to help an alcoholic is a difficult thing to do. Perhaps the best we can do is offer a system of recovery that works for them and encourage them to find out what that system is.

One of the big issues with our usual recovery programs is that they generally try to get alcoholics to fit into their mold instead of tailoring the program to the individual. This is a problem and based on existing recovery rates you can be sure that this method of treatment doesn't really work all that well. Relapse rates are miserably low with seemingly no answer in sight for the struggling alcoholic.

The solution to this is in customization. It is ridiculous to think that there is only one way to help an alcoholic, or that there is only one program or one method of help that can work for everyone. This is just silly. Different alcoholics have found recovery over the years through using different programs and different techniques. No single solution will apply to every individual. This is an obvious truth to anyone who has stepped back and looked at the big picture. Unfortunately, many people do not consider this idea and insist that there is only one solution for alcoholism. Usually this points to 12 step programs such as AA and NA that have essentially become what we refer to as "traditional recovery." These solutions are widespread and, while helpful, don't really produce very good success rates.

For the majority of alcoholics, offering them only one solution of AA is like trying to push a square peg into a round hole. It is actually not a good match for some people and they might find more success with a different approach to sobriety. In these cases, however, we almost always fault the individual instead of the recovery program, and say that "they just don't want recovery bad enough" or they would certainly be able to make this simple 12 step program work for themselves. This is not a helpful way to view things as far as making growth and progress in recovery is concerned.

So what is the solution? For some recovering alcoholics the answer will be in finding their own unique path outside of traditional recovery programs. This can perhaps be done through having a sponsor or by using life coaching services, for example. Other times a person can push themselves to grow in different ways in order to achieve a successful life in recovery.