You cannot make an adult go to treatment. That is the hard part, and anyone who tells you otherwise is selling something. What you can do is change the odds — and there is a real difference between approaches that make someone more likely to accept help and approaches that make them dig in.
This page is about that difference. If you want to talk it through with someone who does this every day, call us. We talk to families constantly and there is no charge for the conversation.
If this is an emergency right now: call 911. Signs that need an emergency response include unresponsiveness, seizures, confusion or hallucinations during alcohol withdrawal, chest pain, or slow or stopped breathing. Alcohol and benzodiazepine withdrawal can be medically dangerous and should not be managed alone at home.
For a mental health or suicide crisis, call or text 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline). For free, confidential treatment referrals 24/7, the SAMHSA national helpline is 1-800-662-4357.
What actually helps
The confrontational family intervention — everyone in a room, ultimatums on the table — is the version most people know from television. The research does not support it as a first move. What tends to work better is less dramatic and more persistent: a series of calm, specific conversations, consistent boundaries, and genuine reinforcement when the person moves in the right direction.
- Pick your moment. Sober, private, not mid-argument, not during withdrawal. Early in the day is usually better than late.
- Talk about what you have seen, not what they are. "You didn't make it to Mia's game on Saturday and I was worried" lands differently from "you're an alcoholic."
- Say what you are afraid of. Fear is honest and it is hard to argue with. Accusations invite a defence.
- Have something concrete to offer. "I called a place in Euless, they can verify your insurance today, and I'll drive you" is an actual door. "You need help" is not.
- Expect to have the conversation more than once. Most people say no before they say yes. A no today is not a permanent answer.
- Set boundaries you will actually keep. A boundary you abandon costs you credibility for the next one. Start with something you can hold.
- Reinforce any movement. A sober day, a kept appointment, a willingness to talk about it at all — notice it out loud.
What tends to backfire
- Having the conversation while they are intoxicated or in withdrawal
- Ultimatums you are not prepared to follow through on
- Framing it as a moral failure rather than a health condition
- Ambushing them with an audience they did not expect
- Threatening to remove children or contact their employer as leverage
- Arguing about whether the word "addiction" applies, which becomes a debate about vocabulary instead of a conversation about help
A note on guilt. Families arrive at this page convinced they either caused it or should have stopped it sooner. Neither is true, and carrying that makes you worse at the thing you are trying to do. You did not cause this, and you cannot fix it by force of will. What you can do is stay in the room and be useful when the window opens.
When they say yes, move fast
Willingness is often short-lived. The gap between "okay, I'll go" and actually walking through a door is where most attempts die — usually because nobody had done the groundwork. Do the boring parts in advance so that when the moment comes there is nothing left to arrange.
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Verify insurance now
You can start this before they agree. It takes minutes and removes the biggest stall. Begin here.
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Know the logistics
Where to go, what to bring, how long it takes. Our packing list and admissions page cover it.
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Sort the obstacles
Childcare, pets, work leave, the dog, the car. These are the excuses that surface at the last minute — handle them first.
What we can and cannot tell you
This is the part families find hardest, so it is worth being direct about it. Once an adult is in our care, federal law — HIPAA, and specifically 42 CFR Part 2, which is written for substance use treatment — means we cannot confirm whether they are here, share anything about their condition, or discuss their treatment without their written authorisation.
Your relative can sign a release of information naming you, and most people do. Until they have, a staff member declining to tell you anything is not obstruction — it is the law that protects their privacy, and the same law is part of why people feel safe coming in at all.
What we can always do is talk with you generally: how admission works, what detox involves, what to expect, how to approach a conversation. None of that requires their consent.
If they are using opioids, get naloxone
Do this regardless of where they are in the process. Naloxone (Narcan) reverses an opioid overdose and is available without a prescription at pharmacies across Texas, including over the counter. Keep it where you would actually reach it, make sure other people in the house know where it is, and learn the signs of an overdose — slow or stopped breathing, blue or grey lips and fingertips, unresponsiveness, gurgling.
Texas has a Good Samaritan provision offering limited protection for people who call for help during an overdose. Call 911 first, give naloxone, and stay with them.
Looking after yourself is not optional
Living with someone else's addiction is its own kind of exhausting, and burning out does not help them. A few things that families consistently find useful:
- Al-Anon and Nar-Anon. Free, widely available across Dallas–Fort Worth, and run by people in exactly your situation.
- Your own therapist. Not a sign you are the problem. A sign you are carrying something heavy.
- Somebody to tell. Secrecy is corrosive. One trusted person who knows the truth changes how the weeks feel.
- Permission to have a life. Your sleep, your work, your other relationships all still matter, and protecting them is not abandonment.
Talk to someone about your situation
Tell us how to reach you and we will call. Nothing is shared with your relative, and there is no cost.
Or call (866) 971-7393 — answered 24 hours a day.
Questions families ask
Can I force my adult relative into treatment?
Not in the ordinary sense. Texas does have limited civil commitment and emergency detention procedures for people who present an immediate danger to themselves or others, but these are narrow, court- and physician-involved, and not a route into voluntary rehab. If someone is in immediate danger, call 911. If you are considering a legal route, speak to an attorney — we cannot advise on that.
They agreed last night and changed their mind this morning. What now?
Extremely common, and not the end. Keep the door open, keep the logistics ready, and do not treat the reversal as betrayal. Call us — sometimes a conversation with someone outside the family lands differently.
Am I enabling them by helping?
Helping someone get treatment is not enabling. The distinction worth drawing is between removing consequences of continued use and removing obstacles to getting help. Paying a bar tab is the first. Driving them to detox is the second.
What should I say to the children?
Age-appropriate honesty tends to go better than a cover story children can see through. That this is an illness, that it is being treated, that it is not their fault, and that they are safe. A family therapist can help you find the words.
Will they be angry that I called you?
Possibly, at first. Bear in mind we cannot tell them you called unless you want us to, and we cannot contact them on your behalf without their consent. What you get from the call is information and a plan.
Is there a family programme?
Family involvement is part of treatment where the patient consents to it. Ask us what is currently offered and how it would work for your situation.
Tru Dallas Detox & Recovery Center
2219 W Euless Blvd, Suite #200Euless, TX 76040
(866) 971-7393
Serving Dallas, Fort Worth and the wider metroplex.
This page is general information for families and is not medical or legal advice. Clinical decisions are made by licensed staff following an individual assessment, and questions about civil commitment, custody or employment law should go to a qualified attorney. If someone is in immediate danger, call 911. For a suicide or mental health crisis, call or text 988. For free, confidential 24/7 treatment referrals, call the SAMHSA national helpline on 1-800-662-4357.