It can be very difficult to watch one of your friends or family members suffer with addiction. Where is the line between enabling and cutting them off too much. Knowing someone you love is hurting themselves in this way and damaging their future in a detrimental way is hard to just stand by and watch. Watching a child give up on their future and everything you hoped they would accomplish in their lives, watching a mother or father make choices that hurt them and your siblings, watching grandparents pass away too early are all difficult scenarios. Dealing with the loss of a loved one is never easy and that is why you do everything you can to make sure your loved one can find the help they need and get back on to the right path to a long, successful, and healthy life. Sometimes these loved ones do not know they have a problem, or they at least don’t want to admit it to others let alone themselves. This is what interventions are for.
Types of Interventions
There are two kinds of interventions. There is an informal intervention which can be as simple as a one-on-one conversation. During this intervention you can ask them questions and provide them with observations about how their behavior has negatively affected their life and yours. The other kind of intervention is a formal one. During a formal intervention is a group of people who are close to the addict and care about them very much, this can be friends and family members. During formal interventions, the participating people usually plan what they are going to say to the addict. They offer them clear plans on how to get help through treatment and outline the consequences if they don’t. Both interventions should be done with dignity and respect.
After deciding which kind of intervention you would like to have for your loved one the next thing to do is to decide if you want the help of an interventionists. Interventionists can help you understand what your loved one is going through and offer the best way to talk with them. Hosting an intervention without an interventionists should always be carefully considered as it can be very risky, difficult, and having the wrong outcome, leaving things worse than they were before. The ultimate goal of the intervention is to have the addict agree to get the treatment they need immediately. Just promising to stop will not be sufficient as most addicts can not actually do that on their own. Recovery Ways can help you find an interventionist that will help you and your loved one. There are also different methods of intervention and the interventionist can help you choose the right one for you and your loved one. After the interventionist is chosen and the method is chosen the next step is to get all the loved ones together and discuss the treatment plan for the addict. Most often the loved ones write out what they are going to say to the addict so that even through all the emotions they can keep their message clear and on track.
Tips For a Successful Intervention
- Enlist the help of a professional to plan the intervention if there is no interventionist have a staff member from the drug rehab center there to assist.
- Decide who is going to be there.
- Approach the addict when they are sober.
- Stay calm, the tone of the intervention should be of love and concern.
- Give specific examples of how the person’s addiction has negatively affected their life.
- Be prepared for denial and resentment.
- Be supportive and hopeful about change.
- Have all arrangements with a drug rehabilitation treatment center ready (including bags packed) so that treatment can begin immediately following the intervention, there should be no delay.
- Be prepared to follow through on your consequences.
- Sometimes an intervention is the seed that is planted and leads to the addictive person getting help in the future.
Get Help Planning an Intervention
If you have a friend, family or loved one that is in need of addiction treatment, Recovery Ways can help find an interventionist in your area. Please call 1-888-986-7848 or contact us here. Our admissions team is available 24/7 and can help determine the best course of action.
