Addiction interventions are the most common form of interventions with a primary focus of getting the substance abuser off of drugs or alcohol and bringing them into the appropriate treatment center. Family First Intervention performs addiction interventions on all types of addictions from drugs and alcohol, to process addictions such as food addiction, sex addiction, or gambling addiction. It is important to understand that addiction interventions are to get people suffering from addiction, an alternate solution to their underlying issues other than drugs or alcohol. It is amazing to see that no matter what a person suffers from,they are almost always escaping from some emotional or traumatic problem in their life and not suffering from a mental disorder. With addiction interventions the drug of choice varies, however the behavior patterns are almost always identical. The behavior of a heroin addict seeking money for their next fix is almost no different than a gambler chasing his next win. The same goes for a food addict hiding food like an alcoholic hiding the bottle to drink on the sly. Either way all of the addicted people we encounter are escaping reality for one reason or another. Although addiction interventions are handled differently on a case by case basis, the overall plan is to get the addicted person willing to accept help from the addiction interventions counselor and the family so you and your loved one do not have to live in a miserable lifestyle any longer.
About Addiction Interventions
How many times have we tried to educate families on addiction interventions only to hear the family say “well, they are doing good, they have not drank or taken drugs in a week”. I wish the substance abuser could keep up the will power to stay clean, however they most likely can not. The problem is not the drugs it is the actual substance
abuser who is the problem. How many times do we have to hear families tell us things like,”I never know what attitude is coming home” or “if we try intervention they will just walk away”. The problem in this case is, families lose their control of the situation over time through con and manipulation of the substance abuser. The hardest part for families during addiction interventions is changing the family system so their loved one has to change as well. If addiction were just about using drugs or alcohol to the point of becoming dependent and nothing else, which is somewhat the problem, addiction interventions would not be needed because we could just detox people and they would be cured. Addiction interventions are just as important for the family as they are for the actual substance abuser so that the proper assessment is made. Addiction needs to be handled with the entire family changing their role in the family system. Addiction interventions are designed to undue the unhealthy family system designed by the addiction.
Why Addiction Interventions
So much emphasis is put on the addict or alcoholic, but were does the family getting better come into play? When does the family get their sanity back? Addiction interventions want families to get their lives back so they can help deliver a well thought out solution to their loved one suffering from addiction. This makes it near impossible for their role as a substance abuser to continue at the expense of the family, emotionally, financially, and sometimes physically. Some families we have counseled they have actually told us that they become numb to the situation making it difficult to snap out of. It is far easier to perform successful addiction interventions and deliver the substance abuser to treatment than it is for the family to actually let us do the intervention itself. Without the families support and the commitment to change their role in the family system created by the addict or alcoholic, it is almost impossible for the addiction to ever be treated properly and get better. Not doing anything at all or families trying to fix addiction themselves is actually one of the worst forms of enabling because it allows the problem to continue and get worse. Remember, addiction interventions teach families that it is not their fault their loved one is addicted and how to accept a new role to handle the addiction. Unless families recognize this and agree to confront the situation with a professional, the problem is most likely to get worse and never better. Addiction will almost never correct itself, the family is almost always the only hope for the substance abuser, and the family is usually the last people left in the addict or alcoholic’s life that is in a position to help.