All in the Family

Living with or Loving Someone with an Addiction

By: Michael Rice, Kim Daub-Olver

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

The Choice Theory approach to addictive behavior does not rely on external controlling methods to make someone do something that they don’t want to do. Instead, the Choice Theory approach is discovering how and what a person would really want their life to be. The focus is identifying the important people in their life; evaluating their choices and how effective those choices have been toward acquiring the life they want. The most common methods loved ones rely on to get someone to change is to criticize, blame, complain, nag, threaten, punish, or bribe them. Not only is this ineffective, it often leads to the receiver of such methods to continue the unwanted behavior to a greater extent than they had been doing.Mike and Kim’s guidelines allow the loved one of an addict/alcoholic effective choices to help themselves and free them from the stress, anguish, and frustration of trying to control someone and something that is beyond their control. Not only will they begin to live a more calm life, their addicted loved one will also begin to change some of their own destructive behaviors.