Nearly everyone at some point realizes that someone they know has a problem with addiction. Addiction is an insidious disease.  It stealthily invades all aspects of our lives, the lives of our loved ones and the members who comprise the social framework of our lives.  Quite often, the addicted person is so lost in the addiction that they are not even aware of it, or are in extreme denial.  A refusal to recognize and admit the truth about the disease is a part of the disease itself. 

People who are experiencing extreme addiction may need intervention. No one can survive well without the help and support of those who are close to them.  Intervention is entirely based upon this principle.  An intervention is a meeting with the addict or alcoholic, family, friends and other concerned individuals within the social framework.  During the intervention, the substance abuser is confronted in a loving manner by the people who care about him or her and are motivated by and requested to accept help for the addiction problem.  A professional interventionist is involved in the process and will help guide the team and individual in the discussion of options and treatments.

An interventionist lays out a plan of action that will get the individual to the help and treatment that is needed.  They are trained professionals who facilitate and assist those in need by relating the concerns, fears and doubts of all who are involved.  The intervention process creates an opportunity for the individual to realize the harmful effects that addiction or alcoholism is having on his or her life and the lives of loved ones. 

1. During the intervention process, a team of caring people is built that will help to orchestrate the intended outcome of achieving the goal of getting help and treatment to the individual in need.  The membership of this team must be comprised of individuals who play a significant role in the life of the individual.  The essential goal of the team is to motivate the person to recognize the need for help. This team can be made of family, friends, work associates, employers, teachers and clergy. 

The family members are the most important members of the team.  They have obviously experienced the most damaging results from the disease and have suffered the greatest losses. On the first team meeting, the interventionist will focus on educating the family on addiction, enabling habits and on how to have and present tough love.  They will also discuss what sort of changes must come about in order to stop the damage that is being produced by the addiction.  The first meeting will also be the time when the actual plan is devised for the intervention.  

At least five people, and preferably more, should be selected from the list of prospective team members.  It should be noted and taken into consideration that not everyone on the list will want to be an active participant in the intervention. However, the impact and success of the intervention will be greatly increased by having a large number of concerned persons on the intervention team who have witnessed the harmful effects that drug or alcohol addiction has had on their lives.

Quite often there is shame and fear that is experienced by those close to the person who is suffering, and this must be overcome. Fear is a protective instinct that allows the problem to go on and inadvertently reinforces the state of denial.  Admission of the fact that there has been shame and fear and the realization that these elements have helped to create a habitat for the debilitating disease to take such a strong hold and go on as long as it has can give great leverage to promote the success of the intervention. 

Often, we see friends and family protecting the addict by making excuses for his or her problems or assisting getting them out of trouble.  The individual should be made to experience the consequences of actions.  Demonstrating bravery and tough love in a loving and caring manner in this realization is a priceless asset and strategy.  It is an epiphany, and you realize that everything must be laid down and put aside in order to reach a solution to the crisis.  The only other option is to allow the disease to take its course and devastate the lives of all involved spiritually, physically and mentally.  When we change a social dynamic, such as the way we approach a situation, there is a domino effect that follows.  When we change, they must also change.  Intervention is a worthwhile and wise investment that can save the dearest assets that enable us to live happy and productive lives.

2. It is extremely important that the intervention must be kept secret.  No one should tell the individual of the intervention plan or certain failure will ensue.  Advanced notice of the intervention may allow the individual time to build up a strong defense that can ultimately defeat the intended outcome of getting them the help they need and the ability for all to recover from the effects of the disease.  It is not only the addict or alcoholic who suffers.  The disease is insidious and it affects the strongest and the most vulnerable and is not fairly distributed, especially to the loved ones who unfortunately learn that fairness and unfairness are not necessarily equally distributed.

3. Every member of the team should know his or her part and should practice their respective role in the intervention.  This is critically important in order to have a successful intervention.  No members should be unpracticed in their role and should definitely not bring an unpredictable variable to the intervention.  The well-rehearsed strategy of the team is of the utmost importance in order to achieve success.  

The ability of the individual to engage in avoidance behaviors should be eliminated as much as reasonably possible.  The concerns of individuals in the team should be presented in a caring and loving manner in order to keep the person from dodging issues being presented.  The individual should be put in a position to have to think about the effects his or her problem has caused them and the ones around them.

The addict should be made aware that you are concerned about the drug addiction and that you want to be supportive while they get the help they need.  The methods employed in an intervention help to break down the process into understandable steps that will enable the person to recognize the need for help and to accept help.

Effective communication is crucial to the cause and should be presented lovingly and compassionately in order to be successful.  Listen carefully to the addict during the intervention and pay extremely close attention to whether they ask about treatment options.  This is a sign that they are beginning to acknowledge that help is needed. 

Individuals comprising the team should know and be close to the individual for the intervention to succeed.  People who have estranged or difficult relationships with the individual should not be on the team.  The focus should be entirely on giving help and all elements that may detract from that process must be removed.

4. Team members who truly know the individual needing treatment are extremely important when choosing a treatment center that will deliver the best outcome for the individual.  Choose a treatment center that is both age and lifestyle appropriate for the individual in order to achieve greater chances of success.  Distance of the treatment center away from the individual’s known environment can work greatly to the advantage of a successful treatment.  The individual must be far enough away from the familiar environment that has helped to produce the crisis situation.  Being close to the old environment can make it easy for the treatment program to fail because of the individual’s possible ability to leave and resume old habits.  Manor House treats addiction as a primary disease and environmental factors play an enormous role in producing the ill effects of addiction.

5. A strong, well respected person who is important to the individual should be selected from the members to be chairperson of the team.  This person should know the individual in need of treatment very well.  A person of weak character who has little involvement or an extremely strained relationship with the individual will not be sufficient and will more than likely ensure certain failure of the intervention. 

The members of the team should individually write a letter of loving and compassionate concern regarding the welfare of the individual.  These letters should address their concerns and present their concerns in a loving and compassionate manner that will best appeal to the personality of the individual they wish to help by expressing concern for the fact that they know they need help.  The interventionist will help the team to prepare and rehearse the statements contained in the letter that will be shared with the individual during the intervention. 

It should be recognized by all, that the intervention process can produce emotions that may veer towards the extreme and opportunities for confrontation will abound.  The individual’s response will be to build a wall of defenses in order to circumvent the intervention process.  Stay to the course that has been rehearsed and know the strategies you have to your advantage as a team.  Extreme denial will cause the individual to attempt to engage in debate.  Be calm, collective and understanding.  Do not engage in any sort of debate whatsoever.  Calmly listen and reassure them that you hear what they are saying. They need to know that they are heard, but that you also have something that needs to be heard. Debate is a defense mechanism and you must selectively eliminate these attempts to derail the intervention process. 

6. Finalize the intervention process by asking the individual to accept the help that the team has recommended.  Have the necessary items they will need packed and ready with prearranged travel plans. If the individual is ready to accept help, then you should take action immediately.  Prior arrangements should be made with a residential treatment center and the person should be immediately sent to the center to begin treatment.  The process should not be delayed because the addicted person may use the opportunity to reconstruct walls of defense and denial.  If they refuse to accept the help, don't give up on them.  They may need time to think things over. Practice tough love, but be supportive and do not engage in any of the enabling behaviors that have given rise to the environment in which they have found opportunity to engage in destructive behaviors.

As a final review of the intervention process it should be remembered by all involved that the intervention is a process where the addicted person is presented with the realities of what damage is being incurred upon them and those who love them.  The following list should serve to summarize the process:

1. A letter of love and compassion should be prepared with the help of the interventionist.

2. Make sure that the letters contain a message of love and concern and do not give rise to volatile issues.

3. The letters should contain only the experiences of the person presenting the letter.

4. Always refer to yourself in the first person.

5. No negative content should be included in the letter.  Intervention is not a plan that should be seen as punitive.

6. A strong and well thought of chairperson should be selected from the group to conduct the intervention.  The interventionist will guide the process, but the message to the addicted person is best received when it comes from an individual who is familiar and trusted.

7. A letter reading order should be established where the chairperson is the last to read his or her  letter in summary of the feelings that have been expressed.

8. Team members who have had strained relationships with the individual should be strategically placed between two strong members of the team in order to give support and promote confidence.

9. The addicted person should be strategically seated to face the strongest member of the intervention team.

10. Interventions can be very emotional and when a member feels overwhelmed, they should briefly pause, take a deep breath and resume the reading of their letter.

11. Definitely do not stray away from the rehearsed guidelines of the intervention plan.

12. The denial of the addicted person should not be allowed to cause failure of the intervention. The individual has concerns also and these should be addressed in a loving and caring manner but the intervention process should not become bogged down in evasive tactics of denial.

13. When all have finished reading their letters, the individual should be asked to accept help and treatment that will help to solve their problem and put them on a path to recovery.

14. If they refuse help, they should not be given up on and tough love strategies should be used that will make them fully responsible for the consequences of their actions.  Sometimes it takes this tough love to make them realize the need for help.

We hope that we have been of assistance to you in helping to make the right decisions about seeking treatment for your loved one.  For further information about intervention please contact us.  In order to bring about a lasting change, it is necessary that all of the individuals involved should make a change.

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