Support for Families and Loved Ones
Practical steps for supporting a loved one, protecting your own well-being and finding trusted resources in Tennessee.
⚠️ Tennessee Recovery Resources is an informational directory. It does not provide medical advice, treatment referrals or crisis counseling. If you believe someone is in immediate danger, call 911. For a mental health or substance use crisis, call or text 988.
Support Groups
Support Groups for Parents and Family Members
Al-Anon (for families of alcoholics)
Phone: 615-333-6066
Website: afsofmiddletn.org
Meetings: Nashville, Murfreesboro, Franklin, Clarksville, and surrounding counties
Format: In-person and virtual options
Cost: Free
What you'll get:
- Support from other parents and spouses
- Strategies for setting boundaries
- Tools for your own healing
- Weekly meetings
Nar-Anon (for families affected by drug addiction)
Phone: 800-477-6291
Website: nar-anon.org
Meetings: Nashville metro area
Format: In-person and virtual options
Cost: Free
What you'll get:
- Understanding from others dealing with addiction
- Experience and hope
- Guidance on how to help without enabling
- Anonymous and confidential
Peer Support Centers
People with substance abuse or mental illness can learn about recovery, find peer support, and have fun.
Website: https://www.tn.gov/behavioral-health
Meetings: Clarksville, Columbia, Cookeville, Crossville, Dickson, Gallatin, Livingston, McMinnville, Murfreesboro, Nashville, Shelbyville, Tullahoma
Cost: Free
What you'll get:
- Peer support groups
- Classes on stress, recovery, wellness and grief
- Outings, games, arts and crafts
Why Family Support Matters
Many parents report that connecting with other families:
- Reduces isolation and fear
- Provides practical strategies that actually work
- Helps you take care of yourself during crisis
- Gives you hope when things feel hopeless
You don't have to wait until your loved one is in treatment to attend. Many family members attend for years to maintain their own wellbeing.
Tennessee Resources
Tennessee Resources
These resources are free, confidential and available to Tennessee residents
Tennessee REDLINE
24/7 crisis line for addiction help. 800-889-9789
988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline
Call or text 988 anytime for mental health crisis support.
TDMHSAS
Tennessee's state behavioral health agency — find local services at tn.gov/behavioral-health
NAMI Tennessee
Support, education and advocacy for families dealing with mental illness. namitn.org
Practical Guidance by Addiction Type
Alcohol use disorder
- Choose one calm time to talk. Avoid serious conversations during intoxication.
- Focus on specific harms rather than debating how much or how often someone drinks.
- Encourage a clinical assessment and evidence-based treatment options, including outpatient care, intensive outpatient programs, residential care and medications for alcohol use disorder. Learn more
- Support yourself with family education and peer support. Family guidance
- Covering for missed work, legal trouble or repeated unsafe behavior
- Making threats you cannot enforce
Alcohol withdrawal can be medically serious. Seek urgent medical care if severe symptoms appear. Withdrawal overview
Opioids and prescription opioid misuse
- Treat overdose risk as urgent. Keep naloxone available if opioids may be involved. Naloxone information
- Encourage treatment for opioid use disorder and ask providers about medication options such as buprenorphine or methadone. Treatment overview
- Look for programs that offer ongoing care beyond detox, since relapse risk is high without follow-up treatment.
- Do you offer medication-assisted treatment
- What levels of care are available
- How do you support long-term recovery
Overdose risk increases when opioids are mixed with alcohol or benzodiazepines. Risk factors
Benzodiazepines
- Do not pressure sudden stopping. Encourage medical supervision and a gradual taper. Clinical guidance
- If benzodiazepines are combined with alcohol or opioids, treat risk as urgent and seek medical guidance.
- Ask providers whether anxiety, panic or insomnia is being addressed alongside tapering.
- "Cold turkey" demands
- Managing withdrawal without medical oversight
Benzodiazepine withdrawal can be medically dangerous. Seek urgent care for severe symptoms.
Stimulants
- Watch for sleep collapse, paranoia, agitation or extreme mood changes.
- Keep conversations brief, calm and focused on safety.
- Encourage an assessment that includes both substance use and mental health screening. Treatment principles
Psychosis, suicidal statements or aggressive behavior require immediate evaluation.
Marijuana and polysubstance use
- Focus on functioning — school, work, relationships and safety — rather than debates about whether marijuana is addictive.
- When more than one substance is involved, encourage a full assessment that looks at all use patterns together. Polysubstance overview
- Set clear boundaries around driving, money and safety in the home.
- Narrow conversations that focus on only one substance when multiple are involved.
Mental Health Conditions
- Treat symptoms as medical concerns, not character flaws.
- Encourage a mental health evaluation, especially when symptoms include suicidal thoughts, psychosis or severe depression. Mental health basics
- Ask about therapy, psychiatric medication management and coordinated care if substance use is also present.
- Call or text 988 for immediate mental health support.
- Tennessee 988 info
Dual Diagnosis and Co-occurring Conditions
- Look for programs that treat substance use and mental health conditions together rather than separately. Integrated care overview
- Ask whether intake includes screening for both mental health and substance use concerns.
- Encourage family involvement when appropriate. Family support improves engagement and outcomes.
- Treating substance use first while postponing mental health care
Trauma Recovery, Including Grief and Loss
- Choose providers that describe trauma-informed care, safety and trust as core principles. Trauma-informed care
- Avoid forcing details. Support stability, routines and professional help.
- Ask whether treatment addresses trauma and substance use together when both are present.
- Nightmares, hypervigilance, emotional numbness, irritability or increased substance use after a loss
Eating Disorders and Disordered Eating
- Encourage professional evaluation. Eating disorders are serious medical and mental health conditions. Family guidance
- Avoid comments about weight, appearance or willpower.
- Offer practical help locating specialized care and attending appointments if invited.
- Rapid weight changes, rigid food rules, purging behaviors or obsessive exercise
Behavioral Addictions
- Set financial boundaries early and reduce access to credit when appropriate.
- Encourage professional help, especially for gambling. National Problem Gambling Helpline
- Focus on behavior and consequences such as debt, secrecy and relationship harm.
- Paying off repeated debts without a treatment plan
Chronic Pain and Medication Dependency
- Encourage medical support for tapering plans when opioids or benzodiazepines are involved.
- Ask about chronic pain management approaches that reduce reliance on addictive medications. Pain and substance use
- Focus on function-based goals such as sleep, mobility and daily routines.
- Rapid tapering without medical supervision
Teens and Young Adults
- Use clear rules and consistent supervision.
- Ask for comprehensive mental health screening as part of substance use assessment. Adolescent treatment principles
- Prioritize family-based approaches when recommended.
- Coordinate with schools when appropriate.
- Long lectures or threats that cannot be enforced
Justice-involved Situations
- Choose programs familiar with court requirements, drug court and documentation needs.
- Focus on compliance, transportation planning and stable routines.
- Ask about re-entry support, employment assistance and recovery housing.
Detox and Withdrawal Management
- Use detox for stabilization, then plan the next step. Detox alone is rarely enough. Detox overview
- Ask what follow-up care is arranged after detox and how quickly treatment continues.
- Prioritize medical detox when withdrawal risk is high.
Confusion, seizures, hallucinations or breathing problems require immediate medical care.
Housing and Recovery Living
- Consider recovery housing when the home environment is unstable or high risk. Recovery housing overview
- Ask about structure, curfews, drug testing and relapse policies.
- Confirm whether housing is separate from clinical treatment.
Gender-specific Programs, Including Pregnancy and Postpartum
- Gender-specific programs may reduce barriers related to safety, trauma history or caregiving needs.
- For pregnancy or postpartum concerns, prioritize programs that coordinate substance use treatment with medical care. Perinatal substance use info
- Do you offer men-only or women-only programming
- How do you support parenting or caregiving responsibilities
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