How to Stage a Family Intervention

Drug and alcohol addiction is never fun to go through. The presence of family intervention can mean the difference between a successful recovery and a miserable relapse back into the destructive cycle of substance abuse.

What is a Family Intervention?

Family intervention, simply put, is the involvement of friends and family in a recovering addict's healing process. The concept itself sounds simple enough, but the execution can be tricky.

A few careless words or taking the wrong approach to intervention may drive the addict further away from recovery. This is why only a trained professional is qualified to recommend and implement the proper family intervention procedures in the process. Thus, family and friends cannot simply take matters into their own hands.  It does not, however, hurt to get a general idea of what family intervention is all about, as well as the function it serves in the healing process.

Breaking the Cycle

Family and friends have a strong effect on a person's life, as they are the closest to a person's own day-to-day affairs. They know the ins and outs of the substance abuser, and what they say carries a lot of merit.

No alcoholic or drug addict decides to halt their self-destructive ways out of the blue. Something in them must change, and a family's involvement in their affairs is a powerful trigger for that change.

Family and friends have a strong effect on a person's life, as they are the closest to a person's own day-to-day affairs. They know the ins and outs of the substance abuser, and what they say carries a lot of merit. This potent effect they have on the addict is a vital aspect of family intervention, as their personal involvement has a lot of potential to open the eyes of the addict towards the vicious cycle he or she has gotten into.

Supporting the Individual

Family and friends have been, and always will be, powerful psychological resources for a person. Many of one's values and beliefs are directly shaped by these two entities, and this makes them potent pillars of emotional support for the recovering substance abuser.

Properly executed family intervention makes use of these bonds to provide support for the recovering addict. The personal and emotional involvement of friends and family aids in this process by showing genuine care and concern for the welfare of the addict, and this alone provides a strong motivator to get control back over his or her own life.

Strengthening Previous Interventions

If there is one thing that family intervention does well, it is in continuing any clinical or pharmacological interventions that were initially conducted.

A therapist and a few shots of medicine can only go so far in helping an abuser get back on track. The supporting role of friends and family goes beyond the healing process and extends into the long-term plans of the individual. Even when years pass, family intervention can still play a major role in making sure that the former substance abuser keeps his or her life in track.

One last word of advice: family intervention is to be conducted under the care of a trained professional. Families and friends may mean well, but improper attempts to help a substance abuser can and will backfire. Get it right, however, and family intervention can prove to be a very potent aid in helping the substance abuser recover from his or her self-destructive ways.

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