Our S.A.F.E.® (Self Awareness Family Education™) Addiction and Mental Health Intervention Services in Wyoming Help Families and their Loved Ones who do not Want Help and have not Hit Bottom.

Families in Wyoming do not have to wait for their loved ones to ask for help, want help, or hit bottom. Families often wait for these things to happen while the loved one has convinced them that if they try to make them go to treatment, attend an intervention, get help, ask them to leave home, set boundaries, etc., there will be consequences. What often happens is that families are the ones who are getting to their bottom, want help, and are afraid to rock the boat. The majority of the families in Wyoming that contact us are regarding a loved one using alcohol, fentanyl, methamphetamines, or having mental health disorders. Regardless of the diagnosis, what all families have in common is their loved one’s resistance to treatment and unwillingness to change and advocate for their care. Why should families wait for the loved one to make the first move? The answer is that they are not supposed to and can start the intervention services process without their loved ones’ permission or knowledge. 

The last sentence in the above paragraph may have made you cringe. Families often have lost the ability to believe they can do something for themselves. Loved ones with addiction and mental health issues frequently beat families into a state of guilt, shame, hopelessness, fear, and victimization, which leads families to wait for their loved ones to make the first move. It is almost as if a passive-aggressive tone is set by the loved one who says, try something different, and you’ll pay. Although it is not verbally stated in most cases, it is implied by manipulation and other threats. Your loved one has you right where they need you. As you and your family allow things to continue on their terms, they stay comfortable in their situation, and your family does not. How will they feel at the bottom, ask for help, or want help if they are comfortable? How is it you can’t get help for yourselves as a family? Families must stop letting their loved ones and other family members talk them out of taking action that is effective. Waiting for that magical moment will likely not happen unless the family makes the first move. 

Always remember that what appears comfortable to them may not be comfortable to you. In other words, do not assume their perceived comfort by your standards. If they were uncomfortable, you would not be reading this; they would be doing something different. 

How our S.A.F.E.® Intervention Services in Wyoming and Elsewhere Work.

In the last paragraph of the previous section, we stated that you must stop letting other family members talk you out of acting. Do family members do this? Yes, all the time. When a family member has an addiction or mental health disorder that causes stress and anxiety to the whole family, each family member will react differently and acquire a maladaptive family role. These roles become counterproductive to the loved one with addiction and mental health disorders, from wanting help, asking for help, or hitting bottom. Our S.A.F.E.® addiction and mental health intervention services address these family roles in our curriculum in Wyoming and elsewhere. Interventions are far more than what you see on television and are not coercive speech provided by someone who has been in your loved one’s shoes. Although this part of the intervention services process is essential, it is a small piece of the curriculum.

Addiction and mental health interventions start with helping the family first. Our S.A.F.E.® curriculum starts with providing families with psychoeducation and awareness of addiction, mental health, and family systems. Other goals of our interventionists, when they are with you, are to help your family see what detachment is and how codependency and enabling can disable your loved one from asking for help, wanting help, or hitting bottom. We have always found it interesting that people wait for their loved ones to want help or feel the consequences, while preventing both. Families do not do this methodically or with ill-will intent. Unhealthy family behavior can prevent your loved one from seeking help. Our S.A.F.E.® Intervention Services help families do more of what works and less of what doesn’t. There is always something a family can do differently and collaboratively that changes the environment for their loved one, which paves the way for seeing the need for change. People do not make a change unless the consequences of the current situation become more significant than the benefits. If your loved one does not think they have a problem that needs to be addressed, they believe there is nothing to address. 

We do not change your loved one; we change the situation to hold them accountable, and then they change. There is something to address once the problem becomes theirs and theirs alone. Why would they fix a problem they do not think is theirs? Up until an intervention, the loved one with addiction and mental health is often entitled, stubborn, and thinks they are a victim and that everyone else needs to do something different, not them. They frequently believe that if they could get everyone and everything to agree with them, all would be well. Thinking this way is why they do not want help and hit bottom. Families believe this is why they are waiting for their loved ones to make the first move. Those who think an intervention is nothing more than an interaction between your loved one and the person trying to inspire them to change are an even bigger problem. Interventions are not interactions and motivational speeches. Interventions are clinical instruments and strategies professionals use to address an issue and meet specific goals of improving the situation while moving towards a successful outcome.

Initial Consultation

Our process starts with a phone call to our office. When the family agrees, we move to a family consultation call. We begin the assessment phase after the family has approved the intervention.

Arranging the Treatment Plan and the Logistics for the Intervention

The next step is arranging the treatment plan and the logistics for the intervention. Upon arrival, our interventionist utilizes our S.A.F.E.® Intervention and Family Recovery Coaching manual as a guide.

Face-To-Face Intervention

The following day is the face-to-face intervention with your family, the interventionist, and your loved one. Regardless of the outcome, your family will move into our S.A.F.E.® program for guidance and support. The S.A.F.E.® curriculum consists of weekly family meetings with several support groups offered throughout the week. One-on-one support is available and reserved for families actively engaged in our meetings and support groups. Families are assigned homework assignments to work on goals and process the work they do for themselves outside of the S.A.F.E.® curriculum.

Outside Work for Families

The outside work can include Al-Anon, Families Anonymous, CoDA, A.C.O.A. meetings, marriage and family therapy, and individual counseling. We also encourage families to participate in hobbies and self-care activities. The S.A.F.E.® Addiction and Mental Health Intervention Services and Family Recovery Coaching program is designed to help families take their lives back, regardless of whether their loved one agrees to accept your gift of a second chance at life.