Is someone in your family a drug addict? Do you love them and want to help them get sober? Putting together a family drug intervention may be perfect for your situation.
However, there's a lot more planning behind the scenes of interventions than you may realize. Make sure you read these tips about how to ensure it's successful before going through with it.
Understand the Purpose
Drug interventions are group meetings, usually held by family and close friends of an addict. The purpose of the meeting is to confront the addict, with a calm and objective approach, by telling them how their addiction negatively affects their lives. The idea is to convince the addict to enter into a coordinated treatment plan for recovery, which is usually a rehab program.
Meet with an Intervention Specialist
An intervention specialist, or an interventionist, is a trained individual who has experience running interventions and can help you both plan and execute yours. Incorporating their help could mean the difference between your intervention's success and failure. Interventionists are especially great at preventing a communication breakdown between the group and the addict.
Plan Every Detail
Planning out the intervention is crucial. Coordinating the meeting will help it run smoothly and avoid any possible hiccups that could disrupt the purpose. Plan out who will participate in the intervention. This is important because all attendees should be people who love and respect the addict. You should absolutely not include someone who uses with the addict or condones the use of drugs in general. Make sure you decide who will talk when, and have everyone practice what they will say beforehand.
Choose a private place to hold the intervention. This could be at one of the family member's homes, or perhaps the addict's home. It's also very important to catch the addict off-guard so that they don't suspect an intervention is coming in the near future. If they know ahead of time, they may make an excuse for not being able to attend.
Figure out what type of drug addiction treatment to offer the addict. This is something you can work with the interventionist on, as they likely have experience with facilities in your area. Consider the addict's family, if they have one, and make proper arrangements for them while the addict may be away for an extended period of time.
Stay Calm
Always speak to the addict with respect, and try to stay calm throughout the intervention. The addict may become defensive or aggressive, but you must continue to think and act rationally even if that happens. Don't allow any anger, judgment, or resentment to come through your communication efforts. Make the addict understand that you still care for them, but not for their addiction.
Don't Give Up
If the addict refuses to accept the treatment you offer them, don't quit. There's no way for you to force the person into rehab if they don't want the help. Sometimes, after someone refuses treatment, they change their mind after giving it some time to sink in.
Make sure you tell the person you'll always be there when they decide they're ready to recover.
