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Intervention
If you have a drug problem, and you realize you need help, this section isn’t for you. But if you have a friend, family member, loved one or employee who is struggling with addiction, he or she may need help to realize the gravity of their situation. This section is for you.
Many people feel that unless an addict has “hit bottom” and wants help, they can’t be effectively treated. Study after study has proved that this is not the case. In fact, several studies have shown that those who enter drug treatment programs involuntarily (at the urging of friends, family members, employers or even the court system) can be just as successful in acknowledging and conquering their addictions as those who entered treatment of their own free will.
How can you, as concerned family members, friends or even an employer, get the one with a drug problem to acknowledge their need for help? In many situations, “intervention” is the only effective means of breaking through the addict’s denial.
What can intervention do for the person you care about?
Think of drug addiction like an elevator, which is descending past dozens of potential stops on different floors. At some point, this elevator will reach the bottom of the shaft. Addiction is a progressive, chronic disease that can be treated at any point in its progression. Intervention is simply an attempt to end the addict’s “elevator ride” before he or she reaches the bottom.
Intervention involves bringing together a group of people with the addict to explore how his or her drug-related behavior has affected all their lives. Ideally, this meeting should take place when the user is not high, and when members of the group are not agitated or upset. Group members express their concerns, calmly but clearly explaining that they cannot continue to overlook the damage the drug user’s behavior is inflicting on everyone involved.
The goal of intervention is to convince the addict to take concrete steps immediately following the meeting to get help for their addiction. Generally, this means admitting the addict directly into a treatment program. Many addicts are extremely adept at manipulating situations. He or she may express a willingness to seek help, but have a long list of reasons why doing so right now isn’t possible.
Putting it off—even for just a day—is the typical addict’s clever negotiating strategy. However, the intervention group must be firm in their resolve that delaying treatment (whatever the excuse) is not an option. Doing so will only give the addict time and room to find ways to ignore the core problem.
Intervention is a serious process, and the stakes of intervention can be extremely high. For these reasons, some families or friends may want to enlist the help of a trained professional.
We can provide referrals to interventionists who can work with the concerned group to plan and conduct the intervention anywhere in the country. For more information on intervention, or for a referral to someone who can help, please call (800) 344-9591.
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