In what way can we reach out to the alcoholic and help them? Our typical treatment options try to fulfill this question but come up short when we look at the statistics. You might have tried to get someone to sober up that you knew but had a hard time with it. If it has come to this point then perhaps you should consider the best way to help an alcoholic.
Part of the issue here is that most treatment paths do not really tailor to the individual - they are set up to treat anyone and everyone. They are basically a general program that is supposed to work for everyone but obviously this is not the case as many will fail to achieve success. For example, the twelve step fellowships that are so common these days have essentially remained the same for years and years.
When someone needs help with addiction or alcoholism, we typically send them to a traditional recovery program such as AA or NA. When this does not give us great success rates, we often will fault the individual instead of the program itself, citing excuses such as "the person just did not want to get sober"." These types of excuses point to a failing in our quest for better recovery and we can do better then just blaming the failed alcoholic. I would suggest:
1) Push alcoholics to use treatment for early recovery. This is important because early recovery is so incredibly difficult; it can be a struggle just to string together a few days sober on "the outside." In a safe setting such as rehab it is much smoother when trying to get a hold on early recovery.
2) Encourage the struggling alcoholic to set goals and create a better life. This is crucial because simply drying out from alcohol is not the answer. When an alcoholic drinks they do it with passion and it becomes a huge part of their life. In traditional recovery, the typical drunk has to find new meaning for their life or they will slide back into the chaos and desperation of drinking some day.
3) Push alcoholics to grow holistically. If you can get someone to grow in one area of their life, that is good. But if you can encourage an alcoholic to make progress in multiple areas of their life, then this is really good. Holistic growth means that they are treating the alcoholism as a whole, not just as a spiritual malady (as some programs treat it).
