Dear Mike, Greg and everyone at Family First Intervention,
I can’t thank you enough for all of your help with my husband and family. Words can’t express how grateful we are that you came to our rescue so early on and stuck with us through the intervention process!!! I have been reading the book everyday and realize that this is just the beginning step and that there is much more to come and recovery can be however long it takes. I am working little by little to get my in-laws on board and they are slowly following. One important thing that I learned was that no matter what, my family will always be there for me. This is something that I truly doubted before this whole process. For the first time, members of my family proved that they would do anything to join together and help. I feel that this, in turn, helped my husband’s brother to jump on board and although his parents were skeptical and weren’t there for the intervention, their hearts opened and they were able to come over before my husband left to only tell him that they loved him and supported him through his recovery. For the first time, his Dad looked at me with some relief in his eyes and gratitude for what had taken place. He thanked me and apologized for not trusting me and I told him that it was my husband who was willing. I know that this is a long road, but you and Greg gave me strength to never give up. I truly believe that you are the guardian angels that I prayed for God to send. I will keep reading the book and follow whatever you tell me to do. I just don’t want to ruin the good things that have happened thus far.
Kristy
Hi Mike,
Just wanted to say hi and Happy New Year! Thank you so much for saving my son’s life by helping me get him to the Recovery Place. He has no memory of how he even got to Florida, still can’t believe they let him on the plane. I’ve heard from him 5 times now. Every time he talks to me he thanks me and tells me how much he needs to be where he is at. Sounds like a pretty nice place. Keep doing all the good work Mike, you were such a great help!!! Please tell Sheena Happy New Year for me, she was super and I would like her to know Art is doing well. I also want to apologize for the verbal abuse you both had to deal with from my son.
Take care. Nancy (Art’s Mom)
Family First Intervention was everything they claimed to be and so much more. When I first contacted them I did not know what to expect or how to go about the whole intervention process. Mike Loverde and his team walked us through everything step by step. I spent several days on the phone with Mike, sometimes multiple times a day. He took a true interest in my family and our situation. The Family First program taught us how to come together as a family to deal with our loved one. The intervention process is never any easy one, but having Family First involved gave us the support and knowledge we needed to make it a success. We could never have done it without them. I am so happy to say that my family member is currently in treatment getting the help we so desperately wanted for him but did not know how to give him. As a family we will forever be grateful for what Family First has done for us. This process works without a doubt and the people behind it put their hearts and souls into it. I would tell anyone that is in need of help for a friend or family member to contact these wonderful people. It will change your life.
Thank You – Jessica
This last weekend, my family and I had an intervention for my brother using Family First Intervention. It was actually quite a remarkable process for which I’m very grateful. Starting with a few phone calls to orient my family and I to the process, one after the other of my family – each with emotions ranging from hopelessness and skepticism to frustration – joined into the game to get my brother this very needed help. While all of us love him very much, the effects that drugs and alcohol, as well as the behavior patterns and life choices joined with them made it very tough for some of us to know just what to do with him! We knew he needed help, but could anything be done and how were we going to get him to see that? That’s what Family First Intervention helped us with. After our orientation calls where we got our questions answered, we had an interventionist fly out to us. She spent over 7 hours educating us in a very informal seminar and discussion setting. She worked with us to create a loving, yet tough presentation for my brother whereby he wouldn’t say no to our urge for him to get professional help, where he felt safe and cared for. We were also asked to consider what we had done to assist my brother in his use of drugs and alcohol. The interaction was a great learning process where we got better understanding of what we could do to get my brother to realize the help he needed and it was also a real eye opener us. Each member of my family discovered just how much we contributed to this behavior occurring. We also discovered that the situation was much direr than we’d imagined. There could be nothing worse than realizing too late that you hadn’t done all you could. I was very surprised that the bad signs I saw were truly just the tip of the iceberg and glad that I did take action. Needless to say, the intervention succeeded. It took work and took some guts, but my brother is on his way to receiving the help he needs. I would urge anyone to take advantage of Family First Intervention’s professional services whose loved one might need their help. This is a very professional company who has really worked out a great means to be effective and care for loved ones.
Thank you, MC
Mike,
I wanted to let you know that you helped to save our mother’s life. He was amazing and I cannot thank you enough for getting us this far. What we thought was a hopeless case, has turned out to be a miracle in the workings. I know we aren’t out of the woods yet, but that fact that my sister and I were able to drive from Prescott to Anaheim without trying to convince her every step of the way she needs to do this, is true testament that she knew she was at her bottom. You have quite the team and your interventionist was able to play hardball with the Queen of Manipulation and win. Your company is invaluable and I hope you stick with this line of work for a long time as I know you have a lot more people to help. Thank you again Mike.
Best regards, Casey V. – (Jolinda V’s oldest daughter)
Just wanted to send a quick THANK YOU to your organization. We worked with your interventionist (out of Chicago) yesterday and he accompanied our daughter to California for treatment. He was very patient in explaining the “book” to us (family) so we could get a better grasp of what our daughter and ourselves are dealing with. He was professional and yet very transparent as he shared his own stories with us; please let your interventionist know how grateful we are for his presence with our family and with our daughter as we head down this road of recovery.
God bless you for making a difference in the lives of families!
Marty & Sarah
Elkhorn, NE
Mike,
I just wanted to take a moment to say thank you for the vital information you presented our family. Our brother was very humbled by our intervention and began treatment at St. Gregory’s last week. Again, we could not have done it without your support. Thanks for providing us with the tools to support our family member.
Kelle
Michael,
Rick and I and all of our family just wanted to drop you a quick line to say “THANK YOU”! That seems so small compared to what you have done for our daughter. You will always be in my prayers and I would love to send a thank you card to Sheena as well. What an angel! Can you send us an address where she can get the card or can we mail it to you and you forward it on to her?
Again, THANK you from the bottom of our hearts.
Sincerely,
Laurie and Rick
Michael,
Just wanted to send you a short note to thank you for selecting Sheena as our interventionist. She was wonderfully patient, supportive, knowledgeable and competent. We learned so very much during our day of preparation, and even though the immediate intervention did not work, as a family we are now united in our approach and understanding, and we have a much better shot at getting Kristen to the treatment she needs.
Thank you so much!
Werner
Mike,
I just wanted to say thank you. Even though the traditional sense of success of getting Carl to rehab didn’t work. The rest was a total success, we have a semblance of a family for the first time ever. It was an absolute miracle to get my dad, oldest brother, and mom into one room…united and all working together. The Intervention was filled with what I’ve labeled as “painful miracles”.
We are continuing to back each other up and support one another in the overall objective to hold Carl accountable for his behavior. Mom has stopped enabling, we have completely put him in charge of his finances and his life choices.
My dad, and two brothers are there for me when I start really struggling with it. It is wonderful to feel a sense of family support system in my life. We all intend to build upon this. And all the alliances my mom had have broken down in a way that is actually workable for her. You may recall my Aunt Karen would not balk my mom’s alliance. They have shifted their dynamic. My cousins stepped up and expressed how proud they were of me for doing this intervention on Carl. We have made some big strides in the right direction. I can not thank you enough for helping me truly understand the “characteristics” that make someone more than just a drug user vs an addict (one who keeps people at arms length, who creates riffs to make others stay away to make it more comfortable to do their drug, who blame others, who don’t take responsibility).
Also thank you for helping us understand the essence of any intervention is to change the family dynamic. We needed it all unearthed and unrooted. We needed to see our main work is to hold Carl accountable for his actions. We needed to understand our “roles”. And we needed the support you both offered us. I thank you sincerely for all you have done to help us begin to have a healthy family. We will continue to build upon this and who knows Carl may one day decide to get his crap together and can join into a really fun-loving supportive family system. Or he may choose to miss out on that this lifetime, but the rest of us won’t. The rest of us will continue to enjoy every bit of it.
Rheana
Dear Michael Loverde,
I’m taking the time to write this letter to you and your staff because I really appreciate what you did for me and my family. Initially, I talked to you Mike. I wasn’t sure at the time if my mother, Mary Lou, would buy into the idea of my brother, Paul Pellegrino, who is 47, never living with her in her house ever again, but I figured it was worth a try. You put me and my mom in touch with one of your intervention coordinators. She always treated me and my mother with pateince and respect and listened carefully to everything my mom told her about the situation with my brother. The interventionist really helped my mom get on board and commit to the decision to get Paul into treatment. On the day that my husband Gabriel and I went to the airport to meet our interventionist, Richard Borisenko, we waited at the wrong escalator and my mom was waiting for us at the hotel and had her cell phone turned off – a communication break down ensued. Even though an hour had nearly gone by before we found Rick at the airport, he happily greeted us. Rick did a great job earning my mother’s trust and somehow she found the right words to say to Paul that got him to agree to treatment. I believe those words to Paul were, “You owe me.” My husband Gabriel and I are are proud of her courage. I’m sure Rick is proud of her, too. Rick was always patient and respectful when meeting with my brother Paul and his girlfriend Jessica. Unfortunately, Paul and Jessica did not reciprocate the same respect toward Rick, particularly those few hours before Paul and Rick caught their flight from Las Vegas to Chicago. Paul insisted Jessica drive him to the airport and she almost made Paul and Rick miss their flight. My mother has told me repeatedly how embarassed she is at the way Paul treated Rick. Rick was nothing but decent to my family and Paul was abusive toward all of us.
All I can say now is “Thank you, God” that Paul is in treatment and no longer bullying my 77 year old mom to give him money so that he can gamble it away and smoke crystal meth with it. My mom is no longer my brother Paul’s slave. I no longer have to bear the agony of knowing that she is working with painful feet while he refuses to work at home and he feels entitled to all of her money. The Intervention experience taught us all a lot, especially my mother, who has vowed never to allow my brother to live with her again. My mom learned to get tough and act tough. This intervention experience was difficult to facem, but it was good for my marriage. My husband and I are no longer silenced. We will no longer pretend there isn’t a problem when we know there is one. We will no longer have to feel ashamed that we didn’t do something about my brother’s addiction and my mother’s enabling. Thanks again to you and your staff for helping me and my family in our time of need. A special thank you to Rick Borisenko for making Intervention Day a success! We are so happy that Paul is in treatment and we are hopeful that he will be responsible and drug free for the rest of his life.
Sincerely,
Peggy M. P. R.
I want to express my gratitude to you and your staff for choosing to send Risk Boresenko to be our facilitator for our Intervention of my son, Paul. I was told, before I met him, that he was the best and, believe me, he was! It took all his skill and patience to deal with Paul and the road – blocks we met. Rick was determined and persistent in getting our message across to Paul. You can be sure Rick earned “his keep”. Rick was so helpful to me and kept me on track, giving me the courage to get tough and persist. I cannot thank you all enough for what you have helped us to accomplish. I feel my son now has a chance at a new life and I look forward to his recovery.
Rick is “THE BEST’, you can take it from me. I will keep his advice and wisdom close to my heart, ALWAYS.
Sincerely yours,
Mary Lou P.