Find out if your loved one needs an intervention
Interventions are designed for families to learn how and why they have allowed the situation to get this far.
It is difficult to resolve a problem when you play a significant part in it. Interventions benefit families by making an impact and drawing attention to the situation in a different way from what has been done in the past. We know that the substance user is going to have an intervention at some point. The family can choose when that happens before it is imposed on the loved one. Understanding which behaviors have been helpful and which have been counterproductive allows the substance abuser to be held accountable and to see the need for change. The substance user is going to make a choice as to what to do. The family is the only one with both a clear choice and the ability to make a rational change. The substance user is most likely not going to change because of a speech; it almost always requires a change to the environment that has been an impediment to change. This environment is the family system that often reacts counterproductively to the substance user. Intervention can benefit a family by taking the first steps with the likelihood that the substance user will follow through with change, too.
How Interventions Can Be Effective
Therapeutic confrontation is one of the most effective tools a group facilitator can use to foster change and produce positive outcomes for group members. What would a group look like if nobody talked about their transferences or issues with other group members? What would happen to a recovery group if someone attended while under the influence every time, and the group carried on while ignoring the 800 pound gorilla? Would members benefit from a confrontation that was not delivered or controlled properly? How would it affect the group if it turned into a shouting match or a personal attack while the members developed resentments toward each other? Eventually, the group would descend into chaos, people would stop coming, and some would relapse. If your loved one was in treatment in such a group, would you be OK with that? As a matter of fact, your loved one is essentially in a group while at home, similar to the one above, dismantling the family and destroying it. With all the family members emotionally involved in the situation but without the guidance of an experienced group facilitator, how could the situation at home improve?
The case above exemplifies a lack of skills needed to improve group outcomes. Add unhealthy family roles, maladaptive coping skills, enabling, and codependency to the group, and it becomes even more difficult to solve problems. Interventions are designed for families to learn how and why they have allowed the situation to get this far. It is difficult to resolve a problem when you play a significant part in it. Interventions benefit families by making an impact and drawing attention to the situation in a different way from what has been done in the past. We know that the substance user is going to have an intervention at some point. The family can choose when that happens before it is imposed on the loved one. Understanding which behaviors have been helpful and which have been counterproductive allows the substance abuser to be held accountable and to see the need for change. The substance user is going to make a choice as to what to do. The family is the only one with both a clear choice and the ability to make a rational change. The substance user is most likely not going to change because of a speech; it almost always requires a change to the environment that has been an impediment to change. This environment is the family system that often reacts counterproductively to the substance user. Intervention can benefit a family by taking the first steps with the likelihood that the substance user will follow through with change, too.
Connecting with a Professional Interventionist
At Family First Intervention, we understand the heartache that addiction causes a family. Some families may have forgotten what life used to be before the addiction took over. Others may not believe they can get back to a healthy way of living, but families can recover just as a substance user can. Like the substance user who tries to fix, manage, and control the addiction but to no avail, the family also fails to fix, manage, and control the substance user.
Family First Intervention has helped thousands of families achieve their goal of taking back their lives and beginning their own recovery program. It is OK to think about and at times be concerned with your loved one’s actions. It is not OK to be overwhelmed with the chaos and confusion by attempting to control his or her actions.
