What is the most effective way to intervene in behavioral addiction?
There are many ways to effectively intervene. Please don’t believe that you’re powerless in the face of your loved one’s addiction. But my recommendation is a much more soft approach, a much more subtle approach, where maybe you sit down on a Sunday afternoon and have sort of a heart-to-heart discussion. You sort of say, “Maybe the two of us should go and talk with a professional.” Don’t make them feel guilty. Don’t make them feel diseased or they’re mentally ill. But rather help them see the cost benefit analysis. Help them see that it’s not a crisis yet but it’s a building up to a point. Some other organizations, like Al-Anon, there’s tough love approaches where the individual is sort of like disengaged from if they don’t involve. Now, that’s a strategy for intervention that I’m not particularly supportive of. Can you imagine your child having an internet addiction and saying the tough love method, which means putting them out on the street. I have met very few parents that are willi
