Drug Intervention
A drug intervention is an orchestrated attempt by one, or often many, people (usually family and friends) to get someone to seek professional help with an addiction.There are many misconceptions about what a drug intervention really is. Some people think a drug intervention is an emotional ambush, or even an uncaring attack. The truth is that a carefully planned drug intervention is a process founded on love and honesty. Successful drug interventions are very often instrumental in the substance abuse recovery process. Successful drug rehab is in many ways predicated upon the quality of the drug or alcohol intervention that precedes it. Drug interventions work by helping addicts see the extent of their problems, and the truth about their condition.
When we think of the word "intervention", we typically picture a group of friends and family confronting a drug addict or alcoholic in a familiar setting. This type of drug intervention is known by those in the recovery industry as the "living room ambush", or the Johnson method. This drug intervention method is named for Vernon E. Johnson, an Episcopal priest and author of the book "I'll Quit Tomorrow". This type of drug and alcohol intervention is intended to save the addict from hitting rock bottom by having family and friends try to break through the person's denial, most often with the help of a professional interventionist. In Pre-intervention treatment, counselors meet with the families and friends of the addicts, prior to the actual drug intervention. The goal of a drug intervention is to help families to develop the best strategies to successfully encourage their loved one to receive treatment.
A drug intervention is a way for people who care about an addict to help them recover from their addiction. It gives them a way to voice their concerns in an open forum that is non-judgmental. Many people who have been addicted to alcohol and drugs have successfully recovered as a direct result of an intervention. There are a variety of types of interventions that can be used, and the appropriate one to use depends on many different factors.
Various Types of Drug and Alcohol Interventions
Brief Drug and Alcohol Interventions - Brief drug and alcohol intervention is used to help the addict change their behavior. In this kind of intervention, the goal is to help point out consequences of drinking or doing drugs and what types of effects an addict can expect to encounter if they continue. A brief drug or alcohol intervention may also include helping the addict establish goals for changing their behavior. This type of intervention could include a contract in which the addict makes a written agreement to act in more positive ways. Brief drug and alcohol interventions work best for individuals who have been abusing drugs or alcohol for a short period of time or in instances where an individual is prone to inconsistent substance abuse binges.
Pre-treatment Drug and Alcohol Interventions - If a brief drug intervention does not work, the next level of drug intervention is a pre-treatment intervention. In this type of drug intervention session, a professional interventionist meets with family and friends of an addict to gather information and facts about the person. Once the professional has all of this information, they can then go and hold a drug or alcohol intervention with the addict. At the same time, the family and friends of the addict may make changes to what they do in order to help the drug intervention along. Once the professional has met with the addict, more sessions may be required, and it can sometimes take several sessions to help get the addict into substance abuse treatment.
Motivational Drug and Alcohol Intervention - It has long been thought that addicts naturally have a denial mentality when it comes to their addictions. However, in 1991, two researchers put forward the hypothesis that most denial actually stems from an interventionist's or therapist's approach when it comes to dealing with addicts. The researchers, Miller and Rollick, came up with a different way of approaching addicts that was intended to motivate them instead of confront them. This gave rise to the motivational interviewing type of intervention, which is used to help addicts in a nonjudgmental manner.The motivational drug and alcohol approach attempts to increase the client's awareness of the potential problems caused, consequences experienced, and risks faced as a result of the drug or alcohol behavior use in question. Alternately, counselors help clients envision a better future, and also encourage them to achieve it. The motivational drug and alcohol intervention strategy seeks to help clients think differently about their behavior, and to consider what benefits might be gained through changing it.
No matter what type of drug or alcohol intervention is used, one of the best tools in the interventionist's arsenal is not necessarily the ability to make the addict see how detrimental his behavior is to his own life or the lives of his loves ones. Instead, the threat of legal consequences or incarceration is often one of the strongest motivator's for an addict to get clean. A form of government-sponsored intervention, known as “drug court” is being used in many states. If the Court determines that alcohol or drug addiction has contributed, at least in part, to a defendant’s criminal behavior, the judge may offer substance abuse treatment as an alternative to jail. Although clearly an example of the traditional, strong-arm approach to drug or alcohol intervention, states have been reporting decreased recidivism rates for those defendants who have successfully completed court mandated drug treatment.
The only goal of any drug intervention is to convince a drug addict to seek substance abuse treatment. There is no aim more important than being free from drug addiction, and no goal more important than recovery. Sometimes an intervention will only work when things are so bad that even the addict cannot deny that they need help. Is cases like this, the interventionist and loved ones are walking a fine line between delaying the intervention until the addict will be more likely to listen, or in taking the chance of waiting and possibly being too late. The bottom line is that if someone you care about has succumbed to drug alcohol addiction, you can’t afford not to act. The stakes are too high, and the outcome is too important.
