Intervention FAQs
Is an intervention really necessary?
That question is best answered by asking yourself three questions:
- Is the family in a crisis situation?
- Have the family’s efforts to move their loved one towards wellness up to this point, worked?
- Is doing nothing an option?
The truth is that an intervention of some sort is headed towards your loved one. It could look like an overdose, law enforcement, prison, killing themselves or another or any number of other scenarios. These are interventions upon which you have no control over the outcomes. I assure you, a planned intervention is much less painful and much more effective.
What is an intervention?
An intervention is an an action taken to improve a situation orchestrated by one or many people – usually family and friends through the guidance of a trained professional interventionist– to motivate a loved one to seek professional help with an addiction or some kind of traumatic event or crisis, or other serious problem.
Why would we need an interventionist?
Can’t we just do the intervention ourselves?
The benefit of having a professional lead the intervention is that the interventionist has no emotional attachment to the family or the addicted individual. We are able to see the situation more clearly without the emotions involved. With a professional in charge of the intervention, we neutralize the negative dialogue that usually happens when families attempt to approach the addicted individual alone. Generally what happens when families go at it alone is that it ends in a yelling match or one family member accuses another for saying the wrong thing. This enables resentment to further drive a wedge into the family dynamic and keeps them in the problem instead of moving towards a solution and wellness for the entire family.
What if they say no to the intervention process?
It’s one of the most commonly asked questions. Professionally guided interventions consist of removing all options that enable an addicted loved one to continue destructive behaviors. When the family is confronting their loved one in a loving, non shaming, non blaming manner and all options are removed, 95% of addicted individuals enter treatment on the day of the intervention. The 5% that do not accept help on that day generally don’t believe the family will maintain the boundaries set during the intervention. Once they have an experience that shows them that the family is indeed holding firm on their boundaries, most of the 5% enter treatment within a week.
Don’t they have to hit bottom before the intervention?
The term ‘hitting bottom’ is largely misunderstood and it enables family to continue to operate out of fear and refuse to take action. You can be assured that your loved one has bottomed out emotionally already and about 350 people ‘hit bottom’ every day and don’t bounce. They die. An intervention is a controlled bottom. With the help of an interventionist, a family raises an individual’s bottom and allows them to see it without having to hit it.