How Does an Intervention Work?
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An intervention is a very painful, confrontational way of dealing with someone's addiction, and is used when everything else has failed. A small group of people close to the troubled person meet together to plan the intervention.They discuss what problems the target of the intervention has as a result of her issue.
They list how it has affected her life, and their lives. A serious addiction will usually cause the addict to lose jobs, relationships, friends, or even a place to live. Together, they plan out the intervention in every detail.
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The intervening friends and family meet with the person with the problem when she is sober. They will usually set up the room ahead of time so that everyone has somewhere to sit. They will sit the person down, and a spokesman will speak for the group. The spokesman will begin by telling the person that everyone has met there out of concern for her. He will ask her if she thinks she has a problem.
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Usually, the person with the problem will deny and get defensive, or even angry. When this happens, it is up to the intervention group to lay out what the problem is, how it has affected them, and what she needs to do about it. Each intervener will share something about what self-destructive behavior she has seen and how she feels it has affected the addict. They will generally try to use "I" statements such as "I felt sad when I saw you head-butt a cop on your last binge. I felt like you were digging a hole for yourself you would never be able to climb out of." This comes of as less of an attack than "When you head-butted that cop on your bender, you really dug a hole for yourself."
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The spokesperson will make a list of demands of the intervenee. He will almost always demand that she goes immediately into some type of treatment program. In addition, he will demand that the problem behaviors stop immediately. He will also outline consequences which the interveners have agreed on, should she not follow the demands. The consequences can include severing relationships, such as a spouse leaving, or a friend refusing to associate with the person with the problem.
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The intervention group will already be prepared to carry out the consequences and to help with the treatment. They will have already contacted a treatment facility and made arrangements in case the target agrees to enter treatment. They will also be prepared to carry out their threats, should she not agree to their terms.
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The interveners will follow up. If the intervenee decides to go through with treatment, they will make it clear, either as a group or one by one, that they are there to help and support her in her recovery. They will also check in with each other to make sure that the problem behavior does not crop up again. They do not necessarily have to do this in a formal way, but they do need to make sure to help and support their friend and family member. If they have to cut off contact with the intervenee, they will encourage each other to stick with it until she gets her act together.
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