Drug Addiction Intervention

Drug Addiction
Intervention

It’s hard to
help somebody who doesn’t want any help.
This is especially difficult when you and everyone can see that they are
in serious trouble and need help. The
trouble is they don’t want it and they do not believe they have a problem at
all.

If there is a problem, it’s your
problem not theirs. Friends quit trying,
family members withdraw and the addicted person slips into deeper isolation. Drug addiction
intervention is a kind of last measure if you will.

Nothing else has worked and those who care
are trying one last thing to get the addict into treatment. It can be an emotional experience, not only
for the addict but for his/her family and friends. It can be a time of healing, a time of
reconciliation and a time of renewed hope.
It’s not for amateurs to attempt and only trained professionals should
facilitate an intervention, because there is so much at stake.

A meeting of the
minds

A drug addiction
intervention is a meeting, organized by family and friends, designed to bring
encouragement and assurance to the addict that treatment is a viable option and
a necessary one. Facilitated by a
professional interventionist, the meeting will allow all in the room to share
thoughts and feelings with the addict, in love, all for the purpose of helping
him/her understand the damage the disease has done to their life.

The interventionist will conduct a pre-intervention meeting
and ask all who are going to participate to write down their feelings and not
just try to talk them out in the intervention.
Writing everything down helps people to say what they need to say and
stay on topic. It also is a tool for the
interventionist to orchestrate the healing.

Everyone shares

When everybody
in the room has had the opportunity to share the addict will be given an
opportunity to respond—that is agree to go into treatment, or risk losing
something of value. Family members may
shun the addict. Wives may leave the home
with the children. Siblings may choose
to shut them out entirely.

There must be
consequences. Addicts will lie, cheat
and manipulate their families, looking
for the weak link in the chain.
Sometimes a loving parent, in fear of losing their child, will enable
the addictive behavior. Spouses want to
hold on to their marriage and dread the idea of being alone, so they put up
with all of the bad behavior.

Need to be well
planned

Interventions
are well-planned mediation sessions. The
interventionist will keep the conversation as “redemptive” as possible, and
acts as a kind of “traffic cop” to keep the conversation going in the right
direction.

Because the family is intent
on the addict going to treatment, they may even have a bad packed and ready to
go, so the addict can go directly to treatment from the intervention. Treatment centers will handle all of the
details, so it is important to allow the professionals to conduct the session
and not try to wing it on your own.

A wide range of
formats

While it is
common for families to have the interventions, there can also be interventions
at work. Interventions can range from a
simple session, which is just a person asking another person to consider
treatment, because they care. Sometimes
this works. If there is a more serious
situation, a crisis, that is for situations where the addict’s behavior has
caused trouble.

They’ve had a DUI, they’ve displayed aggressive behavior,
they are out of control. Most commonly,
the regular or traditional intervention is used, gathering family and friends
to share feelings. In extreme cases,
there may be a group intervention when an entire family is confronted with
their drinking, not just one person.

Get help from a
treatment center or intervention specialist

People who consider
an intervention are encouraged to contract the treatment center that will
handle the program and begin the process.

It is very easy for those who are emotionally involved to get in the way
of an intervention and literally act against the interventionist trying to
facilitate the process. That’s why a trained professional is vital. The seasoned interventionist has seen it all
before, knows what questions to ask and need to be answered, and most
importantly knows the right approach to any situation.

Not like what you see
on TV

Drug addiction
intervention is not necessarily like the ones you see on television. Those has been selected and edited to provide
the most entertaining program, and like other reality television shows, may not
necessarily be reality.

That is another
reason for seeking a trained professional person for a drug addiction intervention. The right setting, the right collection of
people and the right approach are all important components to making sure an
intervention is successful.

That ends our section on Drug Addiction Intervention visit our home page for more information or return to the drug addiction treatment page.