Your loved one’s addiction is getting out of hand, and you must do something about it. Knowledge of how to organize an intervention will be most helpful right now.

In this article, we will expose what an intervention is and why it has become necessary. You will also learn the essential tips for holding an intervention. By the end of this article, you should be more confident to suggest the addiction treatment services your loved one needs to get better.

What is an Intervention?

Wondering why you need a guide to organizing interventions for an addicted loved one? It all starts from knowing what an intervention is. An intervention is an event organized by close family and friends of somebody struggling with addiction. 

Interventions often set out to help the person realize they have a problem and need help. Also, they aim to show the person some understanding of the condition and support.

Asides family and friends, interventions may involve professional health practitioners and members of similar faith. Interventions are carefully planned events. Hence, they require detailed planning to ensure effectiveness because of the often delicate situation.

People with an addiction don’t often realize the harmful effects of their substance abuse. Most times, the haziness they get from the substance clouds perceptions and judgements. With Interventions, they can know the repercussions their actions have on the people around them.  

Interventions have been proven useful in getting people with addiction the help they need. Some organizations peg the success rates of interventions at about 90%. Undoubtedly, an intervention is useful to start your loved one on the path to recovery. It is, therefore, crucial to know how to organize an intervention.

When Should You Organize an Intervention?

Knowing when to stage an intervention is as important as knowing how to organize an intervention. You may or may not know beforehand if the person in question has an addiction. You also may have talked to the person quietly about the problem, with little results. 

Interventions often come up as a last-ditch effort to get your loved one the help they need. There are particular things to look out to signify the time for an intervention.

• The person starts to abandon their obligations at home or work due to substance abuse.
• Personal relationships begin to degenerate.
• The person spends a lot of time on drugs, whether sourcing, using or recovering from them.
• The person gets into ugly legal or financial situations as a result of the addiction.
• The person starts to isolate from friends and family to die to their substance use.
• The person’s health begins to deteriorate, obviously because of the addiction.

Generally, any of these behaviours is a cause for concern. Put together, they represent a slippery slope, which may lead to dire consequences.

Related article: Benefits of Gender-Specific Addiction Treatment

Step-by-step Guide to Organizing an Intervention

Figuring out how to organize an intervention is pretty straightforward. Because the whole situation is delicate, it is essential to follow specific steps to make it productive.

Begin by consulting

You will need to discuss your worries about the person’s addiction with their close ones. There is a high chance they share your concerns. Such discussions help to make them understand the need for an intervention.

At this stage, you should also get professional help. The help may come from a professional interventionist or the person’s physician. Mental health counsellors, psychologists or psychiatrists may also have valuable input on how to organize an intervention.

Put together a team

Typically, several people come together to do interventions. The composition of the people who will talk to the person must be done carefully. Naturally, you will only want to select people your loved one respects and loves.

The team often contains family members and very close friends and associates. Asides these people, other team members should be professionals. It is very advisable to have professionals on the team. Interventions can quickly become charged and tense. An expert with experience will be of much help to normalize the situation.

Get informed

There are many things you need to know before planning an intervention. One critical one is information about the addiction itself. 

It will be advantageous if you learn about the substance to which your loved one is addicted. Knowing how it affects the body will make it easy to empathize with the person. Also, you’ll be able to educate the person on potentially harmful effects correctly. The more you know, the more convincing you will be to the person.

Interventions are incomplete without the person committing to get treatment. So you should also research possible treatment programs in which you can enrol your loved one. 

There are several addiction treatment services in Toronto you can employ. You will be able to provide options from which they can choose. 

Define consequences

When you think of helping a loved one overcome addiction, you must include some tough love. Your intervention is to help them get the treatment they need. However, they may not respond positively to an admonition to get help. In such a case, there must be consequences of such refusal.

For one, their relationships have to change. The team members present must decide to stop any actions they do to enable the addiction. 

This action lets them know their addiction is not sustainable. All team members must explicitly communicate all consequences to the person.

If it ever comes to enacting the consequences, there must be no hesitation. Therefore, it is important to only threaten actions with which you can follow through.

Plan the event

This is a big part of learning how to organize an intervention. In this stage, you have to work out the little details of the event. To start with, when will you hold the intervention?

You must pick a suitable date where everyone member of the team and the struggling person will be available. All members of the team must be present as they all have an essential role to play.

The time of the day is also significant. Mostly, it will be most effective if the person is sober during the intervention. Mornings are preferable since it is less likely the person will be under the influence then.

The location of the intervention is also consequential. Ordinarily, you will want to choose a place in which your loved one is comfortable. 

However, you don’t want them to be too comfortable. Running off during the event isn’t unusual behaviour in this case. So it may be best if it holds someplace with which they aren’t too familiar. A private, formal spot, like the interventionist’s office, may be the best spot.

Hold rehearsals

Many may easily overlook this tip on how to organize an intervention. Since interventions can be tricky, you must do everything to make it go smoothly.

You should hold at least one rehearsal before the actual intervention. At the rehearsal, each team member comes with a prepared text of what to say.

The team members may describe particular incidents and events where the addiction was problematic. They can also share some concerns and worries. The rehearsals help to arrange the thoughts properly, so your loved one understands them completely. It’s an important step in the high picture of how to organize an intervention.

Furthermore, the rehearsals also help to arrange the order in which each person talks. All these help to ensure the intervention passes the right messages across. Also, it helps to predict and manage any emotional fallout during the intervention.

Hold the intervention

Once you figure out all the details, you can then hold the intervention. You should get your loved one to the location without letting them know the reason.

Next, the team members should take turns to speak their minds to the person in question. It will be helpful if this follows the earlier defined order. At this stage, it may be tempting to speak freely. But it will be better if everyone sticks to their scripts.

Furthermore, it is essential to remember that an intervention isn’t an avenue for blames or scolding. At the back of each person’s mind should be the intention of providing support and care. 

Follow up

There is a need for someone close to help the person question stay in treatment and avoid relapse. You may need to change the way they’ve lived previously. The idea is to eliminate the opportunities they get to indulge in drugs. 

You may also participate in the counselling sessions alongside the person. This way, you’ll be providing them with a feeling of companionship.

Conclusion

A poorly planned intervention may worsen the state of your loved one. This underscores the need to know how to organize an intervention. 

With so much effort necessary to make an intervention successful, it can quickly get tiring. Sometimes, you may not see results immediately and may have to hold multiple conversations.

However, you must not give up. You must prepare for this eventuality beforehand and be hopeful for a later change. Engaging a professional in your efforts will make this much more manageable. With their experience and technical expertise, they can shave off much of the discomfort.

Call Inspire Change Addiction Rehab in Vancouver for addiction treatment programs.We offer effective addiction treatment services in Canada and the USA. We are versatile and have solid knowledge in treating addiction to different substances. 

We have a high success rate. Call 888-5089-802 today if your loved one needs an intervention!