What is a Intervention?
An intervention is a carefully crafted process that directs a non-compliant person towards help and treatment. A trained interventionist coordinates friends, family and sometimes co-workers to facilitate this process. Usually led by a professional, an intervention brings the concerned individuals together to take action to help a person that needs assistance.
How does a typical intervention work?
An intervention usually includes the following steps:
- Discovery and Planning. A family member or friend discovers the addictive behavior and puts together a group to help their loved one.
- Gathering information. The group members find out about the extent of the loved one’s problem and research treatment programs (We can help you with this step). The group may make arrangements to enroll the loved one in a specific treatment program.
- Forming the intervention team. The planning group forms a team that will personally participate in the intervention. This often may include hiring a professional interventionist (We can refer you to a number of very reputable Intervention companies with high success rates)
- Pre-Intervention Meeting At this point Team members meet without the addict present and work together to present a consistent message, treatment plan and changes each person will make(consequences) if the addicted person doesn’t seek treatment. Keep the plan confidential until the day of the intervention.If your loved one doesn’t accept treatment, each person on the team needs to decide what action he or she will take. Examples include asking your loved one to move out or taking away contact with children. Each member of the intervention team should detail specific incidents where the addiction has resulted in problems, such as emotional or financial issues. Discuss the toll of your loved one’s behavior while still expressing care and the expectation that your loved one can change.
- The Intervention. Without revealing the reason, the loved one is asked to the intervention site. Members of the core team then take turns expressing their concerns and feelings. The loved one is presented with a treatment option and asked to accept that option on the spot. Each team member will say what specific changes they will make if the addicted person doesn’t seek care.
- Follow-up. Involvement of a spouse and family members is critical in helping someone with an addiction stay in treatment and avoid relapsing into old patterns. This can include changing patterns of everyday living to make it easier to abstain from the destructive behavior, offering to participate in counseling with your loved one, and knowing what to do if relapse occurs.
Caution :
Today, with interventions being broadcast on television, participants often believe they do not need a trained interventionist,and attempt to do it themselves. The danger in this is there may be one and only one opportunity to approach the sick person and get them the help they need.Trained, credentialed professionals are capable of assessing the situation, dealing with their denial and resistance plus determining the model of intervention that will have the best outcome for each person.
