Planning An Intervention: 5 Tips from Pros

Something has changed in your loved one. They don’t want to go out anymore. They’ve been missing work. Their energy levels have dropped dramatically in recent days, weeks, and even months at a time. Their grades have suffered; relationships too. They’re unpredictable at times. Their hygiene and behavior is completely out of the norm.

It may be time to intervene; but when, how, and with who?

Interventions are never easy but they are often necessary. Furthermore, an intervention can be that crucial point in time when an addict or alcoholic surrenders themselves and opens their mind to the idea of treatment and recovery.

Drug Sweeper’s team of Certified Master Interventionists have come up with a list of 5 tips to help you with planning an intervention.

Most dictionaries label an intervention as, “an action taken to improve a situation, especially a mental disorder.” While that definition does give a plain and simple understanding of the word, interventions are often times far more complex than that; especially if the intervention is centered around a mental health, alcoholism, and/or drug addiction concern. In most instances with drugs, alcohol, and other substances we recommend the parent, employer ,and/or significant other follow these guidelines:

1. Create and/or find a safe and neutral place for the intervention. The location or setting of an intervention highly impacts the success rates. You may not always have a safe place to intervene but if the option is there, take it. Change is hard. Feeling is everything. Location will almost always affect the outcome of the intervention.

2. Choose an appropriate time to begin the intervention. Finding an ideal will likely aid you in the ‘getting through to them’ portion of the intervention. No one appreciates being blindsided, so attempting to garner their attention when distractions are present will more likely be met with unnecessary aggression and defense. Just like location, timing may be everything.

3. Surround yourself and the intervene with comfortable, respectful, calm, and like-minded people. The person undergoing the intervention should feel comfortable with the participants of the intervention. They should respect their point of view and trust their judgement. Their odds of absorbing and processing the information presented to them increase exponentially.

4. You want to control the outcome right? Having a plan with several contingencies is the best way to do so. Similar to the several pathways of a map, the introduction, direction, and destination of the intervention should be dictated by the interventionist. There should be several expected pathways with a desired direction and destination.

5. There isn’t an interventionist on this earth that can fully guarantee the success of an intervention. That being said, an intervention will most certainly provide you and your loved one with clarity. Getting it all out on the table and sticking to your word may be extremely hard. However, it is the only way you and your loved one can and will be capable of moving forward and moving on with you lives, business, etc.

Drug Sweeper’s team of Certified Master Interventionists have over 28 years of experience. Throughout South Florida and around the country, we have the skills required to get your family and loved one the help they so desperately need and deserve.

We are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Visit our Contact Page or call 1-833-K9-SWEEP today!