An intervention can encourage someone who is struggling with alcohol or substance addiction to seek help through addiction treatment programs. Popularized by major series across different networks, interventions are often used to nudge a person toward rehabilitation. However, there’s still uncertainty surrounding the practice. Namely, are interventions effective or worth the efforts to organize and execute?

For someone struggling with addiction, admitting to substance abuse is usually considered a first step. It’s often an indication that a person has now become aware of the impact their behavior is having on those around them and also how addiction may contribute to more serious health concerns.

However, many battling with addiction may not want to seek help on their own accord, whether due to denial or refusal. An intervention may help make them aware of their problematic behavior. The idea is to motivate a person to seek reason and understanding as it surrounds addiction as a disease. To execute effectively, it can be difficult with strategic guidance from addiction specialists.

If you believe your loved one is in need of assistance for an alcohol or drug issue, it’s important to find supportive resources that can help point you in the right direction. AspenRidge Recovery offers family support programs to help with interventions and ongoing treatment. Contact us directly at 855-281-5588.

Are Drug Interventions Effective?

It’s very common to ask “are drug interventions effective?”, and an article in Psychology Today states that the effectiveness of interventions is difficult to define. Every person is impacted by addiction differently. Individuals battling with substance use disorder are more likely to seek treatment when they encounter an intervention. It’s important to note, however, that interventions do not affect the outcome of the treatment itself.

According to a report by the Addiction Center, there are 21 million people in America that are struggling with at least one form of addiction but only 10% of them will seek treatment.

Are interventions a good idea?

Some reasons for the refusal to receive treatment could be due to the stigma and the overall cost of treatment in a center. Sometimes family members or friends will be cautious about trying to encourage an individual to seek treatment due to the costs and uncertainty of whether health insurance will help cover the costs.

So, are interventions a good idea? In general, it’s difficult to measure whether interventions are effective. Instead, substance abuse specialists recommend setting benchmarks to determine whether or not the information provided during an intervention allows for small changes. These can potentially be considered successful. For example, harm reduction principles are used commonly to determine “success” through prevention, reduction, and treatment.

The Different Types Of Interventions

If you’re asking “are interventions effective” for your situation, keep in mind that all cases can be different. There are four main types of interventions, some of which may be more suitable for your circumstances than others. Intervention examples:

1. Simple Intervention: This is where just one loved one of the individuals struggling with alcohol or substance abuse confronts them about their addiction with or without the help of an interventionist.

2. Classic Intervention: This is where a group of loved ones of the individual (normally the closest family and friends) get together and confront them about their addiction. These interventions are normally planned and rehearsed beforehand and seeking help from a professional source is advised to be able to formally address the issues.

3. Family-system Intervention: A family-system intervention is when an individual or a group of individuals from the family system address or confront others in the family that are contributing to substance abuse in one family member, or if multiple members in the family group are struggling with addiction. Professional assistance with a family-system intervention is recommended to plan and organize to get the most effective outcome.

4. Crisis Intervention: This is normally an intervention held spontaneously due to the individual with addiction being in a dangerous or life-threatening situation due to their substance abuse. Many will try to get the individual struggling with addiction to commit to a treatment program there and then.

When Are Interventions Most Effective

So, are interventions effective? If so, when are interventions most effective? As a friend of a family member, it can be challenging to know how to support someone struggling with addiction whether that be before an intervention has been held or through the recovery process. There are many resources.

Here’s how to do an intervention to ensure that it’s most effective:

• Think carefully about what type of intervention would be best for your loved one and what would achieve the most effective outcome.
• Do not hold the intervention when an individual is likely to be intoxicated as they will not be able to think or act calmly or rationally, so try to set a time when your loved one is most likely to be sober.
• Do not go into an intervention without a plan, some sort of script, and having not rehearsed with everyone (if you’re doing a family/classic intervention) in the intervention group.
• Be personable in your words with the individual. Do not reel off endless statistics regarding alcohol or substance addiction and try to convey how their problematic behavior is affecting you personally.
• Do not hold the intervention at home as familiar settings can be emotionally charged and it’ll be easy for your loved one to end the conversation and retreat to another room. Seek out a neutral setting as everyone will hopefully be able to conduct themselves accordingly.
• Do not shame the individual struggling with addiction and take care with phrasing and wording your speeches.
• Reassure your loved ones that you will do everything in your power to support them every step of the way in their recovery on the treatment program. You may want to look into if their insurance will help cover the costs of the treatment to help alleviate some of the anxieties surrounding this.

Planning and holding an intervention can be a stressful and painful experience, but it is one of the first steps to helping someone who is struggling with addiction or substance abuse on their road to recovery. If you need help organizing an intervention then do not hesitate to contact AspenRidge directly for professional and empathetic support at 855-281-5588.

The integration of family presence in the treatment process in our centers is paramount as it helps create a more in-depth understanding for both the family and for the individual struggling with addiction of the aligning of mental health, trauma, and addiction to help them to adjust and create a better family system.

See our Family Rehab Program to find out more information on how we use a collaborative approach when an individual is undertaking treatment or services for addiction or substance abuse.

AspenRidge Recovery

If you’re planning on holding an intervention for a loved one, then our treatment centers in Colorado offer effective recovery services and treatment programs for those struggling with substance abuse or addiction and can help and support them through every step of recuperation.

What we offer:

• Outpatient Treatment
• Online Intensive Outpatient Program
• Dual Diagnosis Treatment Program 
• Alumni Support 
• Intensive Outpatient Programs (5-Day IOP)
• Partial Hospitalization Program (Day Program)

You can speak in confidence to one of our dedicated members of staff by calling 855-281-5588 and they’ll be able to advise you on how you can help a loved one who is struggling with addiction or substance abuse regardless of if you’re planning your intervention or taking the first step and enrolling them on one of our successful treatment programs.