How Do You Host an Intervention?

Addiction is devastating. Nearly 70,000 Americans died from a drug overdose in 2018. A 2017 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey found that one in nine Americans used illicit drugs in the previous month.

Someone you love can get treatment for addiction. The tricky thing is that there is no one-size-fits-all solution. One strategy that can work is an intervention.

You may have heard of interventions from the A&E show. But don’t assume you can just recreate what you see on television. Read about how to host an intervention here, then get your loved one help.

The Basics of Drug and Alcohol Interventions

An intervention is a process, not a singular event. Though you could sit the person down and talk about their addiction, that kind of intervention may not work.

Interventions focus on the positive. They involve a group of supporters who talk to your loved one about their drug use.

It is not coercive. You cannot force an individual to get treatment. An intervention is designed so a person realizes they need treatment and seeks it.

You can manage an intervention yourself. But you can also hire professional interventionists. They will help you plan an intervention, and they will manage the conversation with your loved one.

You can hire a professional interventionist for any person with an addiction. A professional may be most helpful for someone with a serious mental illness or a history of violence.

Planning an Intervention

To host an effective intervention, you need to educate yourself. Read about addiction, its causes, and its symptoms.

In the scientific community, addiction is called a substance abuse disorder. Substance abuse disorders manifest in the brain’s reward system. The reward system provides us with uplifting hormones when we do something positive, like eating a delicious meal.

Drugs trigger the reward system, flooding the brain with hormones. Over time, the system becomes distorted. It only fires when a person consumes drugs, causing a person to become addicted.

Understand that a person struggling with addiction is grappling with their own brain. Addiction may have genetic, psychological, and environmental components. But it is primarily a brain disease.

Talk to doctors and addiction specialists about the nature of addiction. Then get information about your loved one and their addiction. Come up with multiple treatment plans for your loved one.

Form a team of organizers. Include only close family members and strong friends. If possible, include a professional interventionist or psychiatrist.

Select a location to host the intervention in. It should be a place where everyone will feel comfortable. You could host it in your house, or you could host it in a hotel room.

You should also pick a date and time for the intervention. Do not inform your loved one with an addiction that the intervention is occurring.

The Steps to Host an Intervention

Every person on the team should prepare well in advance. They should choose their words carefully, focusing on love and compassion.

If you can, have each person write out an impact statement that they can read from. Their statement should be personal, regarding how addiction has harmed their loved one. It should not attack the person or make statements on their behalf.

Read over these statements and rehearse the whole event. Emotions will run high, and the best way to keep a level head is to prepare.

Greet the person as they enter and have them take a seat. Remove anything that could distract them, including their smartphone. Explain what is happening and what will occur.

Create as welcoming an environment as possible. If your loved one leaves, the intervention will not work. They may grow more distrustful of you, stymying any future attempts at outreach.

Everyone at the intervention should be allowed to speak. You can go in a circle, or you can call on people when they are ready. Provide small opportunities for your loved one to make remarks, but focus on the other people in the room.

Each person can offer an ultimatum. If your loved one does not receive treatment, everyone will cut themselves off from them. This sounds aggressive, but it pushes them toward help and ends their dependency on others.

What to Do Next

If your loved one does not agree to seek help, you need to follow through on your ultimatum. Failing to do so will encourage them to continue with their addiction.

You are not responsible if your loved one refuses assistance. They are. Carry forward with your life, and get help when you need it.

If your loved one does agree to get help, get them to help right away. Give them a ride to a treatment center, or call someone for them. Stay with them until help has arrived, and wish them well as they leave.

Once they are with help, follow up with them. Contact them on a weekly basis and ask how their progress is going.

Welcome them home when they leave treatment. Try to remove them from triggers that prompt them to use drugs.

Your loved one may relapse. That does not mean that you failed them. Start on a treatment plan right away and reevaluate their situation.

Staging an Intervention the Right Way

Addiction requires a forceful treatment plan. An intervention is an effective and direct way to prompt your loved one to get care. But don’t host an intervention without getting the facts.

Interventions focus on the person with an addiction, extending positive feelings toward them. Drugs impact their brains, making treatment difficult. But a show of support from loved ones can encourage them to get help.

Hire a professional if possible. Host an intervention at a comfortable location, and plan out what you’re going to say. Offer ultimatums and follow through on your word.

Get answers from the experts. Addiction Answers is one of the Internet’s leading services for addiction and intervention help. Contact us today.