Families Choose Empathy Over ‘Tough Love’ To Rescue Loved Ones From Opioids

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Doing the Right Thing –

August 10, 2018 – Two torturous days later, Jeff Duncan came home. Although he returned to rehab, the Duncans decided their approach wasn’t working. They sought help, eventually connecting with a program that, instead of tough love, stresses empathy: CRAFT or Community Reinforcement and Family Training. “There was more compassion and, ‘Wow, this is really difficult for you’; more open questions to him instead of dictating what he should and should not behave like,” says Bea.

Many drug users say, in hindsight, they’ve appreciated being forced into treatment. But studies show that a compassionate approach and voluntary treatment are the more effective ways to engage drug users in recovery and keep them alive. That’s a critical consideration for families in this era of fentanyl, a powerful opioid that can shut down breathing in seconds.