Hi Nici,
I'm glad you found these boards, the people here are very helpful. I have a suggestion and that is to find a detox that is basically a rehab. A detox by itself is just 3 days and as it does help with the withdrawl from alcohol, which can be horrific by the way, but it does not offer much in the way of recovery. It is very hard for an alcoholic to be three days sober and stay sober without a recovery program, as the world can be very overwhelming when you're used to looking at it through an alcohol induced haze.
Also, as you will find out, this will be a pretty intese journey for you as well and after finding the detox and supporting him through it you may need to start detaching and you should not have to be responsible for finding out about meetings and going, etc.
A rehab program which consists of a 3 day detox program and rehab which is about 28 days consists of groups, individual counseling, AA meetings and a lot of interaction with people who are going through the same thing. Usually you are under a doctors care incase medication is in order. Oftentimes drug addicts and alcoholics are self medicating due to another illness like depression, bipolar, or anxiety. This way your father will start to build a support network of his own, learn about meetings and where they are and possible meet people he can start to use for support and freindhip in recovery.
I wish you and your dad tons of luck. He's lucky to have you.
Searching