My advice about helping you help people who are in a very deep well of addiction comes after years of trial and error. It also comes after establishing an in-patient unit for people with a Dual Diagnosis of both Addiction and Mental Distress.
Several Points:
1. Peer Helpers can be very important to addicts seeking sobriety. They must SEEK it.
2. Just because a person is involved in Addictive behavior, it is not hopeless. Change is possible.
3. Change is hard work and no one can make another person change. The key to all change is Motivation of the Client. The Seeker must be motivated enough to stick it out and do some of the hardest work ever.
4. Trying too hard to Motivate another person to change can actually slow it down. Many people enter this kind of field and ministry out of deep compassion. When we are too compassionate and feel their pain too greatly it can lead to "Enabling their Addiction" rather than Encouraging their Recovery". If I am more concerned about his/her addiction than he/she is I am Enabling!
5. Everyone is Motivated but not to do what is healthy, good, godly or right.
6. Relapse is not unusual. Make sure you are prepared to be patient and long suffering.
7. Find good resources for referrals. Know who has Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, Alanon, Celebrate Recovery, etc. I strongly recommend any and all or these groups.
Go to the Sweeten Life web and get the book Hope and Change for Humpty Dumpty. It will cost you $10.00 for a downloadable pdf. file that you can read online and print. It will save you thousands of hours of hassle, headaches, horror, half efforts and hurting people. It is specifically written to train Christian Helpers, Peer of Professional.
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