If someone you know is sliding further down the path of drug and alcohol addiction, you might wonder what you can do. You don’t have to simply stand by and watch them fall deeper into despair. Instead, you can find out how to stage an intervention. When you do it the right way, your chances of saving a friend or family member significantly increase.
What Is an Intervention?
Whether it’s a friend or family member, you care about someone who abuses drugs and alcohol. They may experience hangovers regularly due to excess alcohol consumption, or they insist they’re in control of their cocaine habit.
The longer they engage in substance abuse, the greater the risk that they’ll become dependent and addicted.
An intervention is a meeting with the user and those who care about him or her. During the meeting, loved ones try and convince the user to seek treatment, preferably going straight from there into a rehab facility.
How to Stage an Intervention: Helpful Tips
The goal of any intervention is to persuade a loved one to enter rehab and attend addiction treatment programs. Not every intervention works out. In some cases, it’s due to a lack of preparation or education on the part of the people staging it.
Knowing how to stage an intervention successfully can save the life of someone you know. By following a few tips and tricks, you increase the odds that your intervention will progress smoothly, thereby giving you a greater chance of seeing a loved one seek addiction treatment.
Tips that can help your intervention run smoothly include:
- Preparing and rehearsing in advance
- Educating yourself on addiction and how it affects the user
- Scheduling a time when the user isn’t under the influence
- Only involving those who aren’t likely to escalate issues or fight
- Hiring an intervention specialist if needed
Involved parties are there to encourage a loved one to seek treatment. Therefore, they should talk about how much they want to see the user get healthy and well. They should be supportive and motivating and avoid blaming or judging.
Even if you do everything right when learning how to stage an intervention, sometimes things don’t go as planned. Your loved one may refuse to seek treatment right away. It happens.
Sometimes, users must hit rock bottom before they’re ready for treatment. If that’s the case, continue your supportive efforts, while not engaging in enabling behaviors or accepting abuse.
Begin Your Recovery in Our Tranquil Settings
At Pillars Recovery in Orange County, California, we give young men and women treatment options that can help them lead happier, healthier lives. We operate gender-separate housing at peaceful, beachside locations.
Our programs include:
- Drug detox
- Residential treatment
- Transitional living
- Dual diagnosis treatment
- Chronic pain treatment
Healing from addiction is possible, especially when you have the support of specialists and those who care about you. Get a fresh start by calling our treatment center today at 866-782-0247 to learn more.
