Alcoholism Intervention

Denial is one of the biggest stumbling blocks to any treatment for alcohol abuse. Most hard-core alcoholics either don’t believe or don’t want to believe that they have a problem. Concern expressed by friends and relatives is dismissed as nagging; the concern or contempt of co-workers is ignored. Very often it takes a confrontation by someone outside the intimate circle, or by someone in authority who cannot be denied, to force the alcoholic to acknowledge that a problem exists, and that the problem is his. This “intervention” is an effective way to jump-start alcohol treatment.

Addiction Recovery

Alcoholism intervention is not undertaken lightly. There are many techniques, ranging from the family marshaling its courage to confront the alcoholic as a group, either in writing or face-to-face, to surprise confrontation at work. Intervention is nearly always a surprise to the alcoholic, who is stubbornly still insisting to herself that she hasn’t got a problem. But when an employer sits her down, or a spouse calls in a professional, suddenly denial is not as viable an option as it was. A professional has heard every excuse, dealt with hostility and tears and rage, and knows how to calmly counter each barrier the alcoholic throws up against getting treatment. Workplace intervention for alcoholism is especially effective, as it threatens the alcoholic’s ability to support himself—and his habit—as well as his family. Over 90% of abusers confronted in the workplace seek treatment within a week of the intervention.

It can be difficult to seek help for alcoholism, whether you are the alcoholic or someone close to you has the problem. It is not that there is no help available; there is, a lot of it. In fact, sorting out the myriad programs may be as difficult as accepting the fact of the problem in the first place. But first and foremost there must be acknowledgement of the problem: alcoholism. Help for it is often just a phone call away, in the form of someone trained in intervention, or someone who commands the alcoholic’s respect and has the authority to make him listen. That person may be his or her boss, a priest or minister, a no-nonsense best friend, or, ideally, a neutral third party trained in recognizing and dealing with the symptoms of alcohol addiction.

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Alcoholism intervention takes a special sort of courage, a special sort of calm. Loved ones are often too close to the problem, perceived by the alcoholic as being part of the problem. Others may be dismissed with a “Ah, what do you know?” attitude. But a professional trained in intervention for alcohol abuse, who knows what to look for, has heard it all before, and can quietly weather the storm of outrage and denial, is a priceless asset. It does not take kidnapping the alcoholic to get his attention, but it does take an ability to temper compassion with determination and force the alcoholic to see what he is doing to himself and everyone around him. Without a strong advocate, alcoholism help sometimes never gets off the ground.