Drug intervention is a deliberate process by which change is introduced into peoples' thoughts, feelings and behaviors.

A formal drugintervention, like we are discussing here, usually involves several people preparing themselves, approaching a person involved in some self-destructive behavior, and talking to the person in a clear and respectful way about the behavior in question with the immediate objectives being for the person to listen and to accept help.

Although the drugintervention process has been formalized, the idea is not new. Thinking back, most of us can remember a time when someone or something - a teacher, friend, or set of circumstances - impressed us in a way that altered how we understood ourselves and changed our perspective. Moments like these constitute turning points where new vistas open allowing us to see things differently and to recognize opportunities we did not know existed before.

The overall objective of a drug intervention is to begin to relieve the suffering caused by a self-destructive behavior; the suffering of the person engaged in it and the suffering of family and friends.

Why is it necessary or desirable to conduct a drugintervention? Because nothing else has worked.

Most people attempt to change a person or situation through reason and discussion, usually one-on-one. When this fails, frustration may lead to anger. This can go on for years.

Appeals to reason and one-on-one discussions rarely produce change in someone engaged in self-destructive behaviors.

On the other hand, a drug intervention that includes several people meaningful to the person, which is executed in a controlled and logical way, which focuses on changing everyone's behavior at least for the moment, is highly effective.

How do you know if drugintervention is needed in your situation? The driving force in many interventions is urgency and safety. Do you need to act immediately to save the person's life, or is this an ongoing problem that does not pose an immediate threat? The answer often determines what actions can be taken.

For example, an elderly couple slowly drinking themselves into the grave is not in as urgent need as a man on a binge with the car keys in his hand. A family dinner where adult children gather to speak reasonably to their parents about going into treatment could get the attention of the elderly couple, whereas nothing short of an arrest for drunk driving may stop the man on a binge.

Thinking about the level of urgency prior to the initial meeting with the interventionist will make the meeting more productive.

What should be the objective of the drug intervention? The relief of suffering is the underlying agenda of any drugintervention. Changing the self-destructive behavior at the root of suffering is always the focus.

Nearly all families begin the drug intervention process in the same basic stance:

"A person in my family is drinking too much. I worry he will have an accident and die. I want him to stop drinking so he will be happy and the rest of us can stop worrying. Nothing we have done so far has done any good. A drug intervention is our last hope. Will it work?"

An immediate objective of most druginterventions is to have the drinker accept help of some sort - detox, residential treatment, and outpatient treatment, AA, therapy or some combination of these. The classical model often defines treatment for the drinker as its primary objective.

Sometimes a family can readily understand how changes in their own attitudes and behaviors can be a powerful influence on the drinker and are willing and able to invest time in their own education and treatment. When this happens, the objective of the drug intervention is broadened into having everyone in the family (including the drinker) accept help of some sort -- education, self-help groups, therapy and other forms of appropriate treatment.

Drug intervention can be quite stressful. No one can predict with certainty how an individual will react. Acceptance, anger, relief, hope, confusion are all usually present to some degree, and sooner or later each will emerge. How each will manifest prior, during and following drugintervention day varies considerably.

Remember that drug intervention day is only one part of the process. Family and friends continue to learn and change for months and years. It is this knowledge and change that, in the long run, not only help family and friends maintain perspective and resolve, but also helps the person to take the matter seriously and to focus on accepting help.

Drug intervention is always done with love and respect. And no matter what happens on intervention day, it will most certainly get the person's attention. If the person refuses to do what is requested, he/she nearly always changes for the better in some way, usually by accepting some form of help later: either later that same day, the next day, the next week, or the next month or two. It will never be business as usual again for anyone.

Please call us at 800-610-2066. We will be glad to provide you with substance help and an appropriate referral. Intervention Specialists are also available. Call today!