Drug Addiction Intervention

Often when an addict’s problem reaches crisis level, the only choice left to his family is holding a drug addiction intervention. What is a drug addiction intervention? Basically it comes down to confronting the addict with how his or her drug abuse has affected everyone around them. The addict’s family, friends, and employers tell the addict in their own words how his or her drinking has been a problem in their lives.

However, it is not as simple as that. A drug addiction intervention should be carefully planned and developed by professional substance abuse counselors who are experienced in such procedures. The only purpose of an intervention is to get the drug abuser to go into a treatment program.

Most alcohol and drug treatment centers have counselors who are trained to help families prepare for the confrontation, which always takes place in a "controlled" environment, specifically selected to put the person in a position in which he is most likely to listen. Many times these interventions take place at the workplace, with the full cooperation of the employer.

Sometimes, the drug addiction intervention comes as a total surprise to the addict, but recently new techniques have been developed in which the members of the intervention team tell the alcoholic that they are talking with a counselor about his drinking problem several days prior to the actual drug addiction intervention.

Does it work? With the new method, the drug abuser realizes that the most important people in his life are meeting about his problem, and when he is finally invited to the discussion, he does not feel as "ambushed" as with the earlier intervention techniques.

If the addict does decide to enter the treatment center, he is more apt to be less angry than with the former procedure of surprising him with the confrontation. He feels less manipulated and usually enters the program with the attitude of trying to get better from the start. With the old method, many times the addict agreed to the treatment, but started the recovery process with an "attitude."

Professional drug addiction intervention is not an option for every family and every situation. The decision to choose the drug addiction intervention path is one that should be made carefully and with the advice of an experienced counselor. There are some potential risks.

As one health care professional put it: "There are a fair number of substance abuse treatment centers who have stopped doing these interventions because when the intervention fails, as it sometimes inevitably does, the family can be further torn apart by all the bad feelings about the intervention. Not a small point for a family already on the edge of destruction from having an active drug abuser in the family."

"The intervention may fail if the drug abuser does not make some important transitions during and after formal treatment. Or, person in need of treatment may very well storm out of the intervention session and the family will have to pick up the pieces of a failed drug addiction intervention on top of the rest of their problems."

There are others who believe no drug addiction intervention can be successful in the long run, because of their experience that most addicts can't be helped until they are ready to reach out for help on their own. Although the confrontation itself may in fact put the drug abuser in the frame of mind to be "ready" to get help, it can also be a point of resentment in the future.

If the drug abusers problems have progressed so that he or she has become a danger to himself or others, or if their drug abuse has reached the point that they are no longer capable of looking out for themselves, drug addiction intervention can be a life-saving choice. But it is not a permanent cure. Only the addict himself can turn a drug treatment program into a life-long program of recovery.

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