At some point every addict, alcoholic, or person suffering from an addiction has an intervention. When doing intervention, we have never heard of a person with an addiction just wake up one day and think that everything is going so well with their life that they just go to a treatment center. The problem is most families are never told to do an intervention because they are led to believe that their loved one has to want help or hit rock bottom. Although there is some truth to that, we have never received a call from a family that was not enabling on some level that was preventing just wanting it or allowing rock bottom to happen. When we perform an intervention our goal is to make change comfortable for the family and make the addict or alcoholic accountable at the same time. It is easy for someone to tell you to just wait for your loved one to want it, however would they just wait for their loved one to want it? The answer is no. Society and addicted people alike have taught families to wait for the the substance abuser to change while manipulating everyone in making the addiction more comfortable at everyone elses expense. Families quickly find out when they are meeting at the intervention that have actually become comfortable in chaos. It’s true, change is hard on any level, and for families going through the same thing every day they start to become numb making change or even doing an intervention uncomfortable to them. Intervention, done properly with a professional, makes the change for the family and substance abuser comfortable. If we were to define intervention in its simplest form, you could say it was making the addict or alcoholic accountable and providing family with guilt free comfortable change. If nothing changes, nothing changes because waiting is really the only thing that doesn’t work.
Drug intervention
Drug intervention is the most common intervention for us to do. Like any addiction if the family and the drug addict keep doing what they are always doing, than they are going to keep getting what they always have been getting. Drug intervention is about the family putting boundaries around themselves on what they will and will not put up with anymore. Most families would not although the things they although on any level if it were not there loved one. When we talk to families about drug intervention they always understand what we are saying intellectually, however it is hard for them to wrap their heads around it emotionally. That is because their loved one has most likely convinced the family that one day things will get better or that everything going wrong is the families fault. During the drug intervention consultation we always explain to families that it is not their fault that their loved one is addicted and that the family does have the right to change and take their life back. Most of the time families get comfortable in chaos and everybody in the family has a different opinion on how to approach the addiction. Drug intervention provides families with a professional mediator to help the entire family with answers on how to approach their loved one get their willingness to change.
Alcohol intervention
Alcohol intervention is very similar to a drug intervention as far as preparation and delivery. However, because most of the time the alcoholic is stubborn, self centered, takes no accountability for their actions, is always the victim, blames their problems on everything and everyone else, and still has some money, family and assets left, they are going to be more resistant and in more denial making it difficult if not impossible for a family to do an intervention without professional help. If we had the same scenario with less leverage in a drug intervention than the same principles would apply. Alcohol intervention can almost never be accomplished successfully by just a motivational speech by the family or friends. It is equally important that the entire family system change that is making the alcoholic more comfortable in their addiction. As stated above, we have to provide comfortable change to the family and alcoholic in order for the alcohol intervention to be successful. An alcohol intervention, more often than not, has to rely on emotional leverage and always has to have a professional present to handle the manipulations and objections of the alcoholic. Alcohol and prescription pain killers are two of the hardest interventions we have to do because they are both legal methods of addiction. Alcohol is even more difficult for intervention, making a professionals presence a necessity, because alcohol is also social acceptable making denial in most cases their number one defense. If you only have one shot at intervention it is always best to use a professional the first time to ensure the highest chance of a successful outcome at getting your loved one to treatment.