Interventions

What a Professional Interventionist Should Do For You:

1. 01

   The Initial Inquiry of the Intervention Process

   The intervention process starts with an inquiry into how we can help the loved one abusing drugs or alcohol or suffering from a mental illness. During this process, the interventionist seeks to identify the various roles and behaviors of each family member. This will help to identify where each family member is in their willingness to follow through with a formal intervention and we can begin with the family consultation process. This is the time when the intervention is explained, and family members are allowed to interact and discuss their feelings and thoughts about moving forward with a professional interventionist.

2. 02

   Scheduling & Assessment

   Once the family has committed to the intervention process, the dates needed for the intervention are scheduled. An assessment and information packet is sent to the family. Treatment plans are discussed based on the data provided by the family. The family also receives guidance on letters to be written to their loved one. It is expected that the family will get last minute doubts and that is normal. The professional interventionist will be available to answer any questions.

3. 03

   Family Education

   During this meeting the interventionist discusses your situation utilizing our addiction intervention manual as a guide. Understanding addiction is very helpful to help a family understand what the substance user is experiencing. This goal of this process is to help families see the effects of the addiction on their own behavior and be introduced to strategies they can utilize to encourage their loved one to accept help. When families see how this process connects their behaviors to comforting the substance user, it allows them to have confidence in the boundaries they set for themselves.

4. 04

   The in-Person Intervention Itself

   During this phase, the interventionist takes on the role of facilitator and directs the intervention. The family is brought in when asked to read the letters they have written and reviewed during the family education phase. At this point, the family should be prepared for the intervention, have decisions made on boundaries, and follow through regardless of their loved one’s decision. This phase can take very little time or could continue for a good part of the day, depending on progress. If the interventionist is gaining ground, the process moves forward until an acceptance of help occurs. If the substance user digs in his or her heels, the interventionist regroups and consults with the family.

5. 05

   Acceptance or Refusal of Help

   The loved one either accepts or declines the help being offered. Regardless of that decision, a professional interventionist should have prepared you to be ready for your family’s recovery. If the substance user accepts help, he or she is escorted that day to the treatment program, most often by the interventionist. If the substance user declines help, and the family agrees to explain to the loved one their boundaries and consequences. It is important that the family commits to following through with their boundaries, irrespective of the manipulations of the addict or alcoholic. The family should be ready to remind the substance user that any further discussion would be on the consequences of not seeking help. The interventionist team should be prepared to assist the family through this process until the substance user agrees to accept their gift of help.

6. 06

   Continued Support

   Whatever the outcome, the interventionist should be available to handle the emotions and the inevitable volatility. If the substance user declines the gift, the family will need support and direction as to how to address the refusal. If the substance user accepts, the family will need assistance handling their emotions and the separation anxiety as a result of the loved one going into treatment. Accepting help and leaving the home can cause families to go into a tailspin as they will want and need to react to and communicate with their loved one. There will be times when the family must be talked out of interfering with their loved one’s treatment. Change, even positive change, can evoke strong emotions. An intervention resulting in the substance user accepting help requires even more support than interventions that end in a decline for help. No matter the outcome, the family will need support.

Hopefully this helps explain the complicated and challenging role of the interventionist. However, the ongoing support is the most time consuming and crucial part of the process. The family will be relieved to have an expert to help them get through it. Your interventionist is ultimately your family’s temporary treatment team and bridge to the long term care and recovery resources.