Approaching someone with an addiction is hard. You mean well, but the person struggling with an addiction may not see it that way. Plus, what do you say? Unless you’re a trained professional intervention counselor yourself, it’s best to get the assistance of a specialist to help you facilitate intervention for someone you love. At Solution Based Treatment, we offer a full program of intervention services to make the process as productive as possible and get people the help that they need.
An interventionist’s primary role is to be the intermediary between the family and the person struggling. The family needs to understand the substance user’s behaviors and keep their reactions positive so that the end goal of getting their loved one to treatment is achieved. A bigger support group is always better – this includes both the family and the professional intervention team. Support should be available before, during, and after treatment from all involved.
What Is an Intervention?
An intervention is really a moderated conversation with a plan between loved ones and the person struggling with addiction. This meeting is supervised by a trained and experienced intervention counselor.
If you think someone may be battling an addiction, but you’re not sure, here are some signs that could signal someone you love is struggling:
- Compromised health
- Being secretive about what they are doing
- Constantly asking for or borrowing money
- No care for hygiene or physical appearance
- Uncharacteristically aggressive behavior
- Lethargic and unmotivated
- Poor performance at work or school
In addition, many people struggling with an addiction have a co-occurring disorder such as a mental health condition or an eating disorder. If this is the case, an Intervention counselor has the training to help direct the conversation so it can best address a dual diagnosis like this.
The ugly parts to consider are that the person with the addiction needs to take responsibility and ownership of their treatment and understand the ramifications of discontinuing treatment. As part of their family or support team, you can lay out the hard rules, like telling them they can’t come back home unless they finish treatment or that they are at risk of losing their children or marriage as a result. Being strong in enforcing these consequences, if needed, is important.
5 Reasons to Work With an Intervention Specialist
- They can help convince a substance user to accept the assistance they need
- An interventionist can help family members understand enough about the addiction and their relation to it
- Ongoing intervention can increase the chances of lifelong sobriety
- Family members feel less stress after the intervention, no matter the outcome
- If the loved one declines help, the family is validated, knowing they did all they could by bringing in an intervention specialist
Once you enlist the help of a professional, they will work with you on an intervention strategy. This will be a plan customized for you and your loved ones to address their specific needs. In addition to the interventionist, the personal support team can include parents, siblings, significant others, co-workers, and close friends — basically, anyone who could influence the loved one to seek addiction treatment after the intervention.
Contact SBT to Learn More About Intervention Services
Everyone involved in an intervention needs to work together to set the expectations upfront for what the treatment and recovery goals are. Having a trained and experienced intervention counselor to lead the charge is invaluable.
At Solution Based Treatment, our intervention team can help those struggling with addiction, and their supporters, with the tools they need to foster lifelong recovery. It all begins when the addicted individual admits they have a problem. Contact us at 833.999.1941 today to learn more about how our intervention services work.