Interventionist

Drug or alcohol intervention is a common method of trying to force a substance abuser to admit that he or she has a problem. Many addicts neither want help nor to face up to the world outside the false comfort offered by their poison of choice. It can be difficult to blast these people into reality. They are quite adept at tuning out friends and family members who try to reason with them. When reason turns to anger or pleading, it just gives the addict an excuse to go hide out somewhere else.

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An interventionist is often the answer to this dilemma. This may be a priest or minister, a doctor, even an employer, someone who acts like a third-party negotiator in a car deal. The best interventionist is a neutral third party, someone who is not emotionally involved with the addict, who does not need to worry about protecting a long-term relationship with her, who can objectively look at both sides. Often this person is a professional counselor trained to confront, without drama, an alcoholic or drug abuser. Many drug treatment centers or clinics that specialize in treatment of drug or alcohol abuse offer intervention services. Many employers, hoping to salvage a valued employee, will hire an interventionist for a workplace intervention, often with stellar success rates.

An interventionist is not there to throw the abuse in the abuser’s face. He or she is there to calmly and objectively assess the abuser’s behavior and get him to face facts. Sometimes family members are not sure if their loved one’s behavior is really caused by a substance problem. An interventionist can help determine whether drugs or alcohol is driving this behavior. More importantly, the interventionist is there to help the abuser see the consequences of behavior the addict has managed to justify within her own mind.

Armed with facts provided by friends, family, or the employer, the interventionist goes to work, confronting the abuser with the effects of his behavior upon those around him. Most often, this intervention is a surprise to the abuser, who has managed to convince himself that everything is okay, no one has noticed, or that whatever problem there may be is someone else’s fault. The interventionist strips away this insulation blanket of denial and excuses, without backing the addict into a corner, without dramatic accusations, without driving the person to flee the whole confrontation. This is the difference between the third party and the family member. People close to the addict are often unable to maintain this calm demeanor in the face of anger, accusations, tears, denial, and guilt.

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If you feel unable to confront your loved one over his or her substance abuse, pick up the phone book and call your church, or a hospital, or your doctor, and get a referral to a good treatment center for drug abuse. Or, search the internet for local facilities for alcohol treatment or drug rehabilitation, and ask if they offer intervention. It might be the first step toward getting back the person you love.