Many people think that intervention services simply involve someone coming out to talk their loved one into a treatment center. Although that is a small part of what is provided when intervention programs are retained, there is far more that goes on before, during and after the intervention. Professional drug & alcohol intervention is a two to three day process, beginning with a private meeting with the family, followed by the actual intervention. Intervention services always start with the initial phone call that is usually followed up by speaking with the final decision-makers or a family conference call with all interested people. Once the agreement is made to follow through with drug & alcohol intervention services, the two day appointment is set. The first day of the pre – substance abuse intervention is the meeting with the family only; the addict or alcoholic is not present for this day, nor are they aware. The first day involves: discussing addiction education, enabling, family systems, preparing letters, handling objections, setting boundaries and establishing consequences. The first day is for the family; the second day is for your loved one to accept help and willingly be escorted to a treatment center. This is a small example of why it is almost impossible for families to provide intervention themselves. Sure, the family can possibly talk their loved one into treatment — that’s the easy part. The hard part is getting them to stay, go to the appropriate level of care and to increase the long term probability they stay sober. One thing that families absolutely cannot do is make their loved ones accountable and responsible — only drug & alcohol intervention can do that. This is not because the family will do anything wrong, it is because no addict or alcoholic is going to listen to what their family “tells them to do.” After all, almost all addicts and alcoholics view their family as the problem even though they are not the problem.
Addiction Intervention Services
Among all of the addiction intervention services provided, perhaps the most important is the family day or the pre – intervention. This is because in almost every addiction intervention services call we get, we find that the addict or alcoholic is having an easier time abusing drugs or alcohol at the expense of the family. Addiction intervention services is so much more than just talking your loved one into treatment — it is about keeping them there and making you, the family, comfortable about the intervention services provided and what follows. So much of the addiction is made possible because the addict or alcoholic is either in denial, or somehow, over time, has conned or manipulated people into making their lifestyle easier for them and convinced everyone they can fix it themselves. Addiction intervention has the ability to change the family and give the problem back to the substance abuser where it belongs. Until your loved one owns the addiction, they are never going to have a problem to fix. If addiction intervention was as easy as just talking your loved one into a treatment center, we would do just that; however, it is much more than that. Addiction affects the entire family, so if just one group changes, whether it is just the addict, alcoholic or just the family, almost nothing ever changes. The entire system must change in order for long term success to occur. Addiction intervention can help with the long success by bringing the family together to set boundaries and help hold the addict or alcoholic accountable.
Drug & Alcohol Intervention Services
Many families we talk to tell us that they have done all they could. We believe that untMany families we talk to tell us that they have done all they could. We believe that until drug & alcohol intervention services are retained, not everything has been done. There are so many little things that an untrained family, trying to fix the situation or perform the intervention themselves, may overlook. One of the biggest parts of alcohol & drug intervention is our ability to have the addict or alcoholic identify with what the addiction is not only doing to themselves but also the family. Families have to send the message that they will not be emotionally bullied anymore. During drug & alcohol intervention services, we tell families that they have to show their loved one that the addiction will no longer affect them. It’s like shutting down the bully on the playground — when they no longer get a reaction out of you, the incentive goes away. Drug & alcohol intervention services show families not only what to do but also how to do it to ensure the most successful outcome possible — before, during and after the intervention.