Drug & Alcohol Intervention - When An Addict Is In Denial

The most important part of staging an intervention is planning well in advance. You should never try to have an intervention without preparing yourself and any others involved. Instead, you may need to work for days, weeks, or even months to plan an intervention for alcoholism or drug addiction. However, timing is key, as you won’t want your loved one’s addiction to worsen as you plan. Therefore, you should take the time to plan an alcohol or drug addiction intervention properly, but you should also make it a top priority so that you don’t wait until it’s too late.

The planning stages of an intervention for drug abuse (or alcohol abuse) should generally follow the same process:

• Speak to a Professional - You should never try to do an intervention alone if you have no experience or training. Instead, you should reach out to a professional drug abuse counselor or specialist in addiction interventions to learn about the nature of addiction itself. This person can help give you valuable knowledge and teach you effective communication strategies to use once the intervention begins.
• Choose Who to Involve - You don’t want to shame or humiliate your loved one by inviting everyone they know to their intervention. At the same time, you will want to include the people who are most important in their lives, as long as those people do not actively support or encourage their addiction. Carefully choose who will be part of the intervention “team.” It’s best to stick with close friends and family who care about your loved one’s well-being.
• Involve a Specialist - In addition to speaking to an intervention specialist at the beginning, you should also have them actively involved in the planning process. They can help guide the process along, plan the intervention, and even train everyone involved in how to use the proper language and strategies.

The Intervention Process

There are different approaches to how an intervention can take place. It doesn’t need to be a “surprise attack,” as this could actually backfire and have terrible consequences. Your intervention specialist will advise you on the best approach to take. In some cases, the intervention may simply involve a few conversations, in-person or over the phone, between the specialist and your loved one. If your loved one is resistant to the idea of an intervention, it may be necessary to stage an in-person intervention where you, your team, and your specialist address the loved one in person, with or without prior notice.

Generally, an in-person intervention will involve discussions about the concerns each person has with the loved one’s addiction. People may use specific examples to illustrate the severity of the addiction or how it has directly impacted their lives. The specialist will guide this process to reduce the risk of a breakdown in communication. Ideally, the intervention will involve participants setting boundaries about behavior that they will and won’t accept related to their loved one’s substance abuse. Lastly, the interventionist will suggest the best treatment options and, if all goes as planned, the loved one will agree to pursue some form of treatment.

It’s also important to follow up an intervention with ongoing encouragement and support. An individual may say that they want to recover when confronted by friends and family, but they might later go back on their word. For this reason, you should follow up and continue to encourage treatment options recommended by the specialist. You should also make it as easy as possible to facilitate entry into a detox center or rehab clinic.