Intervention

What are interventions and how do they work?

In essence, an intervention consist of the people in an alcoholic addict’s life getting together and telling the alcoholic how their drinking and drugging behavior is affecting their lives, with the intent of convincing the substance abuser to seek treatment. Sounds simple. It’s not.

When it goes well, the alcoholic addict will go into some kind of treatment program. However, if it doesn’t work, it can make an already bad situation worse, sometimes becoming the catalyst to dissolution of the family unit.

Seeking guidance from a professional counselor is essential. Facilitating intercessions is a learned skill like any other. You don’t want to try learning it by trial and error, experimenting with your alcoholic addict.

An experienced substance abuse counselor can help you weigh the risks and benefits of your particular situation. They can help you plan and execute an intercession in a manner that maximizes the likelihood of success.

Initiating an intervention is often tried as a last resort when nothing else has worked and the potential result of an unsuccessful intercession is better than doing nothing.

They are risky.

In my opinion, an intervention is truly a roll of the dice. If you’re lucky your alcoholic addict will realize just how badly they are ruining their life and seek treatment. However, you may simply make your alcoholic addict angry and resentful, which could trigger unpredictable results.

Alcoholism and addiction counselors are continuing to develop and refine techniques. Some arbitrations are passive, focusing on the families and friends of an alcoholic addict with the intent of teaching them how to avoid enabling and supporting unacceptable behavior. In this strategy the intent is to cause the alcoholic addict to experience more fully the negative consequences of their actions, in the hope that eventually they will decide to seek treatment. Some are much more confrontational.

One of the concerns expressed about intercessions is that they tend to involve ambushing the alcoholic addict. Usually the alcoholic or addict is surprised, often becomes angry and may deny there is any problem at all, except in the minds of the confronters.

Intercession is an option. You should ask yourself, is this the best option for me? If you believe it is, definitely get a professional counselor involved. Interview several counselors just as if you were interviewing them for a job. You will be placing your family’s well being in their hands. Make sure that they have extensive training and experience with substance abuse arbitration. Ask about their certifications or licensing. Ask for references.

If you find a counselor that you are considering working with, ask them questions about the intercession and follow up process. Here are some questions you might consider:

• How many of these have you done?
• How would the process work?
• Would the alcoholic addict be caught by surprise or would they have some warning? Why would the counselor recommend either approach?
• What happens in a successful intervention? Then what happens?
• What happens in an unsuccessful intercession? What happens then?
• What are the risks?
• What is your success rate?

After interviewing the counselor, take some time to decide if this is still something you want to do. Weigh the risks and potential benefits.

This may be one of the most important, life changing decisions you ever make. Don’t go into it without careful consideration.

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