The Family Addiction Decision Guide
Where Is Your Family Right Now?
Move from fear and scattered information to the next decisions your family should focus on—without entering identifying health information or receiving a fake diagnostic score.
Direct answer
What should I do if I just found out my child is using drugs?
First, separate immediate danger from the family decision. Call 911 for overdose, severe medical symptoms, violence, or imminent danger; use 988 for a suicide or mental-health crisis. If there is no emergency, document what you actually know, avoid an angry confrontation, align the adults, and choose the next responsible conversation, assessment, or professional consultation.
A family advisory system—not an addiction quiz
This tool helps organize the relationship, life stage, current situation, immediate safety, and decision in front of the family. It then routes you into the strongest existing Firm education and tools rather than assigning a diagnosis or pretending that one number can describe a complex person.
The sequence reflects how an experienced advisory team thinks around a kitchen table: stabilize safety, clarify what is known, map the family pattern, align decision-makers, choose the level of action, assign responsibility, and follow through.
What the tool can—and cannot—do
- Identify the decisions that deserve attention next
- Connect the situation to relevant family, intervention, treatment, monitoring, and discharge resources
- Clarify which responsibilities belong to the family, clinicians, emergency services, or The Firm
- Keep answers in the browser rather than submitting them
- Not diagnose addiction, mental illness, withdrawal risk, or a level of care
- Not manage overdose, suicidality, violence, psychosis, dangerous intoxication, or another emergency
The Family Method underneath the map
Every route remains grounded in connection without control, compassion without enabling, boundaries without abandonment, and influence without coercion. The principles stay consistent; their application must fit the nuance, safety, history, rights, resources, and responsibilities of each family.
A Darren Hobbs Family Tool
Developed by Darren Hobbs, CIP, Founder of The Firm Addiction Consulting
Created as practical family education and decision support. You may share this tool free with families, professionals, schools, and communities when the authorship, citation, and canonical link remain intact. Do not sell it, remove its source, or present it as clinical diagnosis or individualized treatment advice.
Darren Hobbs, CIP. Family Addiction Decision Guide. The Firm Addiction Consulting, 2026.
https://www.thefirmaddictionconsulting.com/family-addiction-decision-guide/
Start with the decision directly in front of your family. This guided tool organizes the situation and routes you to the most useful next questions, education, and planning tools.
Private by design: answers remain in this browser and are not submitted to The Firm. Do not enter names, diagnoses, medication names, or identifying health information. This is decision support—not diagnosis, treatment advice, or emergency response.
Your family advisory map
Common questions
Are my answers sent to The Firm?
No. This version processes selections in your browser and does not submit or store them with The Firm.
Does the result recommend treatment?
No. It identifies questions and resources. Medical, psychiatric, diagnostic, withdrawal, and level-of-care decisions require appropriately qualified assessment.
What if someone may be in danger?
Stop the tool and use emergency services. Call 911 for suspected overdose, immediate violence, dangerous intoxication, weapons, impaired driving, acute medical danger, or another life-threatening situation. Call or text 988 for suicide or mental-health crisis support in the United States; call 911 when danger is immediate.
A better plan can start with one conversation.
Tell us what is happening. We will help you identify the next responsible move.