My hopes for creating this site are to educate families using a personal approach as a professional. Ava Solomon-Mazzanti, LPC, Ph.D.
5200 Hwy 134
Epps, LA 71237
(318) 282-2352
INTERVENTION
Intervention, when conducted by a trained professional, is 96% successful in convincing a reluctant person to enter treatment. For many years it was assumed that the substance abuser or chemically dependent person – be it alcohol, street drugs or prescribed medications – had to reach bottom and call out for help before anything could be done for them. Nothing could be further from the truth. In a way, an intervention is simply raising that “bottom” so that the chemically dependent doesn’t spiral further toward self-destruction. If a loved one is standing in the middle of a road and a truck is heading straight for them, would you stand idly by and watch them being run down? Most people would scream and holler at them to get out of the way. Others might even run out and push them toward safety. That is the essence of an intervention. Intervention breaks through the person’s denial by approaching several defense mechanisms all at one. Removing or short-circuiting the person’s defense mechanisms allows the family to present the truth about his/her problem in a calm, rational and loving manner. A well-conducted intervention is objective, unequivocal, nonjudgmental and caring in the presentation of specific facts. It is empathy not to be confused with sympathy. You may express your understanding of the problem, but you most certainly don’t sympathize with the problem. The problem is the PROBLEM. The person IS NOT the problem. The longer the delay, the longer the person will suffer and the more life threatening the disease will become. That said, it is unwise to charge into an intervention without careful preparation and the guidance of a professional interventionist. Why you? Just the fact that you have researched the idea shows that you care. After all, isn’t it reasonable for loved ones and friends to care about someone who is sick? A successful intervention has nothing to do with controlling the behavior of a person with this kind of problem. Instead, it provides you with positive steps to take. These steps help you to do all that you can to offer a serious and effective gift of help to someone you care about. The Fear Factor
The problem with addiction is that it counts on fear as one of its strongest allies. It uses fear to maintain the inactivity of the family unit to confront the problem/addiction. This fear is often quantified by the family members looking at all the possible negative consequences of a proposed intervention. The rationale of the problem/addiction is as follows: If I can instill just enough fear in the family, then maybe they will just leave things the way they are. That way, I can continue destroying the patient. In this manner, the problem/addiction has become a parasite with the patient as its host. Again, we cannot directly control the ultimate actions of the patient. Denial
Almost without exception, the more deeply seeded the problem becomes with the client, the less likely the client is able to realize that there is any problem at all. This is denial (subconscious dishonesty). The problem/addiction also uses this tool to remain active and viable within the patient. In this way, the problem/addiction can mask its insidious spiral of death and destruction. It makes the patient feel that everything is really OK. This is where the rationalization comes into play. Through the use of denial, the problem/addiction makes the patient think that they are really just like everybody else (who may or may not use socially). The denial essentially removes the patient from reality. It is probably the strongest and most finely honed defense mechanism within the arsenal of the problem/addiction. Consequences
The lack of consequences contributes to the ongoing denial for both the patient and the family. What must occur in order for intervention to be successful is the patient and family must “consequentially” hit their bottoms before there can be options/solutions offered to the all those concerned. This is where family work needs some guidance to avoid continuing “enabling” the person, but rather learn techniques to “support” recovery. Resources
Everything Changes: Help for Families with Newly Recovering Addicts by Beverly Conyers
Road Less Travelled by M. Scott Peck
AlAnon/Open AA Groups and literature made available by these groups
Codependent No More by Melody Beatty
The Language of Letting Go by Melody Beatty
Other resources available upon request
INTERVENTION
Who will participate? Prepare information participants will present (can be in list form or letter)
Have Treatment Program set up
Guide them through intervention/rehearse
Decide when and where to hold it/what to tell user to get them there
JOURNAL
Describe the behavior, e.g. How user looks/sounds when using, describe specific situation provoking fear/concern – Who did it affect and how – Who was in danger, if applicable
Describe your feelings personally without being judgmental but with assertiveness, e.g. hurt, angry, scared, sad, embarrassed, etc. Stop enabling, e.g. protecting, preventing consequences, lying/covering up, making excuses, etc. Stop accepting excuses (denial = subconscious dishonesty)
Offer help/support, i.e. have a plan for treatment or alternatives you are willing to apply to care for yourself (if declines treatment)
Confront without anger; be consistent and follow through
Stay true to yourself – stick to your resolution with or without user’s compliance Decide and prepare to take IMMEDIATE ACTION!!! What you will do if help rejected and follow through
ROLE OF INTERVENTIONIST/FACILITATOR
1. Assess the situation
2. Educate the concerned persons about the disease of chemical dependence
3. Provide information about the intervention process and the available help
4. Prepare the concerned persons to do the intervention
5. Facilitate and conduct the structured intervention process
6. Help the concerned persons process the content of the session and make decisions about their future
FEES FOR SERVICES
Available upon request
