My goddaughter has the wrong group of friends?!

My goddaughter has the wrong group of friends?

How do i convince her these people arent good for her. She is addicteded to drugs and these people are also. My goddaughter is attempting to get off drugs and these friends arent

You are absolutely correct in assuming that the crowd is wrong for her. However, I would seek professional assistance (help of her drug counselor, family counseling, doctor, etc) to mediate and effectively communicate your concerns to her. Here are some points to consider in your goddaughter's case:

1. Substance abuse - this is the number one priority clinically. If she is not in recovery and is not active in a program, she is not likely to be herself and will not be able to use her best judgment. Substance abusers can be very good at manipulating situations and coming up with clever rationales for the problems they keep repeating (dog died, other major crisis...). Her insistence in hanging out with a bad crowd suggests that she is either very early in her recovery phase (and therefore not well educated about substance abuse issues) or has been doing well but is now overconfident about her sobriety.

2. Source of advice - Sometimes, where the advice comes from is just as important as the advice itself. For example, a physician may be a physician to his patients, but if the physician tries giving health advice to family members, he/she may face resistance (because they don't see him/her as a professional, rather son, daughter...).

Getting loved ones to do what's best for them requires finesse and help. Coming off too strong even if you are 100% correct may actually drive away your loved one. It may also set them up for failure as we sometimes inadvertently remind them repeatedly of their mistakes (diminishing their hope).

Assuming that your goddaughter is in recovery from substance abuse (if she is not, you do need to be more hard line and strict about requiring sobriety), the way to reach your goddaughter without pushing her away is to incorporate your goddaughter's counselor or treatment team. Have them deliver the strong message (she will absorb it better), and you can be there to give her positive support and to help her process the advice. A good psychiatrist or counselor should be able to use any ambivalence she has about her peer relationships and get her to make progress. Work with them to be firm and encouraging with her.

The advice above was intended for the primary caregiver (which I am assuming you may be). If not, it would be best to let the parents weigh in on this and have them take the lead.

Hope this helps. Comment if you have more q's.