Objections to Treatment

Overcoming Objections to Treatment

Usually one of the first things that we hear from family members who contact us is “He (or she) will never agree to go to treatment.” Of course they won’t. Which is precisely why a company such as Intervention Services USA exists. If there were no emotions in any of these decisions, then family would ever need an outside intervention service for they would “logically” behave in the right manner, including kicking someone out of the house if necessary without emotions. And your loved one would also agree to treatment, for treatment is always the “logical” choice.

But we are not dealing with logic. We are dealing with emotions. A wide variety of emotions within the family. Fear, anger, guilt, sympathy, hope. These disrupt any logic that may exist. Yes, your loved one will probably refuse right away. That is quite common. However, It is our job to change that resounding “No, never!!” into a “I might next week” and then finally a quiet “Fine, I’ll go.”

Handling Objections to Treatment

Part of the process we will go over on our intervention day with you is the objections your loved one is going to have to treatment. We know the real reason…because it is uncomfortable. However, wrapped around the real reason is a semi-legitimate excuse or justification that hides the real reason. We, as trained professionals, can break through the false reasons and handle the reality.

Contesting Objections to Treatment

Part of the intervention process is to make treatment more comfortable of a solution. The best way to achieve this is to brainstorm with you as to exactly what his objections are and then and come up with solutions. What is it that makes treatment such an uncomfortable choice at the moment? Here are some common categories or objections:

Denial – “I’m not bad enough that I need to go away to an inpatient facility” or “I can quit if I want”.

Pride/Reputation – “I don’t want anyone to know that I going to rehab”.

Employment – “I can’t leave my job” or “I have a job interview coming up”.

Finance – “I can’t afford to leave for a couple months. What about the bills?”

Family – “I don’t want to be away from my family (kids, wife, girlfriend, dog, etc)”.

Medical – “I have to take care of my knee surgery” or “I have a dentist appointment”.

Legal – “I have a court date coming up that I don’t want to miss” or “I’m on probation and don’t want them to know I’m going to rehab”.

Postponement – “I need a week or two to handle my affairs” or “I don’t want to leave all my friends without saying goodbye”.

Pointless – “Rehab doesn’t work for me. I’ve already read, heard or tried that particular form of therapy. It doesn’t and will never work”

Unspoken Objection – If all the previous objections to treatment are handled and your loved one still refuses to go, then the only thing left is the unspoken objection, which is a silent way of saying “I want to keep using drugs” whether he actually uses those words or not.

More information on interventions (before the intervention).