What is an Addiction Intervention?

If someone is struggling with an addiction, an intervention can be an important event to help the individual understand that they have a problem and need support or professional help. The depiction of intervention in popular culture can offer a false sense of how an intervention needs to be conducted, so how should it be conducted? 

What Is an Intervention?

An intervention is a carefully planned process that might be done by family or friends in consultation with a health professional. The goal is to help the individual experiencing the addiction understand they have a problem. An intervention should always provide encouragement, but also the incentive for the person to seek help. 

An intervention involves family or friends, who point out how drinking or drug use has affected everybody and provides the opportunity for family, friends, or even colleagues to tell someone, in their own words, how the person’s addiction has been a problem.

The Keys to Setting Up and Executing a Successful Intervention

When you are considering staging an intervention, there are some important steps that can form an effective framework:

  1. Getting help, such as contacting a health professional or professional interventionist. 
  2. Form the core group that will perform the intervention, which would usually consist of family members, friends, or coworkers. 
  3. Planning the intervention, which would include scheduling a specific date, time, and location, who will be in attendance, as well as an outline of how the process will work, including what people will say. 
  4. Getting information, including the recovery process and behaviors involved with abuse or addiction. At this point, it’s important to get information about rehabilitation programs that can suit the needs of the person struggling with the addiction. 
  5. Writing impact statements, where everybody has something to say about the individual’s addiction. This could take the form of personal statements about the impact on the relationships, which can help the person understand that the addiction has not just impacted them. It’s important that the statements do not place blame, but be an emotionally honest statement. 
  6. Offering help, which would include being willing to support the person in some capacity while they undergo rehabilitation and recovery, for example attending family therapy or support group meetings. 
  7. Rehearsing the intervention, which is crucial so everybody understands what they need to say while also ensuring that it doesn’t descend into blame or takes too much time. 
  8. Preparing the boundaries and pushbacks, which would include managing expectations of the intervention, or knowing what to say or do if the person refuses treatment or offers of help. The people can then state the outline and consequences.

What Are the Benefits of an Intervention?

A well thought out and objective intervention can yield a number of benefits including:

  • The loved ones of the individual suffering from the addiction come together to show solidarity and support as a unit for the person. 
  • Allows everybody at the meeting to voice their concerns in an open and honest way.
  • Provides numerous perspectives which can help the person suffering from the addiction to recognize that they have been impacting more than just themselves. 
  • Provides a reassuring and welcome forum, especially if done with a professional interventionist.

The Hardships That Come With Doing an Intervention

Interventions for anybody experiencing addiction is an incredibly appealing approach for the loved ones involved. This is often portrayed on television and in the movies as the “big turning point” that spearheads an individual towards recovery. But it’s important to remember that, while interventions are appealing, they don’t provide a simple solution to a complex situation. 

Addiction, by its very nature, is not down to one overriding cause and can be a very difficult thing to unravel. Many people who believe in interventions as the best way to highlight an individual’s addictive behavior may be going into the process without having an understanding of what an intervention can cause. 

An intervention can feel like an “ambush” on the part of the individual suffering from the addiction. However, it’s important to note that this doesn’t mean that people are never helped by interventions. It can help people understand that they are actually hurting others around them, and this is an important step towards recovering. 

Reach out to Peaks Recovery for Support

For many people, overcoming addiction requires comprehensive treatment. If you or a loved one is experiencing an addiction, it’s important to reach out to professional help. Professionals like Peaks Recovery can offer invaluable support if you are hoping to stage an intervention or you are looking to get onto the first stages of change.

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