Saint Louis Interventionist

Interventions in St. Louis, Missouri

Although there is a lot of information on addiction treatment, there is not a lot on how to get someone to choose to treat his or her addiction. Staging an intervention is one of the best ways to get a loved one or friend to make this life-changing decision. Unfortunately, intervention is often misunderstood and sifting through programs available to assist you with intervention in St. Louis and surrounding areas can be challenging. A firm understanding of the intervention process will help you in finding and choosing the best interventionist in the area for your needs.
What is an Intervention?

According to the Association of Intervention Specialists, an intervention should be a carefully planned event. It should include:

• Knowing the addict and how they will respond to your ‘help.’
• Knowing the people who are coming to the intervention, and ensuring that none of them are substance abusers themselves. (it does no good to have another addict there)
• Hiring an interventionist. In your case, this means finding a St. Louis interventionist.
• Rehearsing what everyone is going to say to the addict.
• Choosing a location that is not threatening to the addict.
• Choosing a strategy or model of intervention.
• Staying focused on the addict, his or her addiction, and the help being offered.

Each of these things will help your loved one to recognize their addiction and the impact it is having on themselves and on others which is often enough to encourage them to seek treatment.

Who Needs an Intervention?

Anyone who is addicted to drugs or alcohol can benefit from an intervention, especially if they appear apprehensive about rehab. Interventions are also extremely beneficial to the friends and family of the addict providing valuable support resources during a time of great need.

Addiction is often called a family disease because it hurts everyone who associates with the addict. Not only does the intervention help the addict into treatment, it helps those who care about the addict to begin the healing process too.

Using an Intervention to Get a Loved One to Go to Rehab

Getting a family member to get help can be very difficult. Many addicts may need inpatient treatment to begin their journey of recovery, but most will be reluctant to give up the life of addiction. Watching a family member suffer from addiction can have a negative impact on the entire family. You can encourage your family member to get help, even if they feel they are not ready.

Understanding the Addiction

The first step should be to try to understand the addiction. Addicts may behave in ways that don’t make sense to those closest to them and take actions that they would have never done before the addiction began. Going to meetings can help you understand what is going on and also help you learn how to set boundaries and keep yourself healthy. Addiction is a very common problem. Nationwide, about 7% of people are dependent on alcohol. Understanding you are not alone can help you reach out to others for help.

Planning an Intervention

An intervention is one of the best ways to get an addict to realize how their behavior is affecting themselves and those around them. It is best to stage the intervention with a plan and to know what should be done if the addicted person tries to leave or refuses help. Frequently, addicts will try to make excuses or want a little more time to keep using their drug of choice. It is important to get them to realize that they need to get treatment immediately rather than waiting until later. Do not try to argue with the addict. Instead, give them a choice with clear consequences if they decide not to get help.

State How You Feel Without Judging the Addict

Being too hard on the addict can have the unintended effect of driving that person further into their addiction. It is important to make it clear that you are approaching them out of love and concern, not judgment. Discuss how the addiction makes you feel without becoming angry with the addict or using harsh words. You may want to have family members write down what they want to say, in case they forget what they think is really important during stressful moments when the intervention is happening. It’s also a good idea to only have the individuals who are closest to the addict present and to avoid having too many people at the meeting.

Using a Professional Interventionist

A professional interventionist may be able to help in some cases. The professional will have skills and experience in working with addicts in the past and will be familiar with what can go wrong during an intervention, as well as how to make one successful. The interventionist can help the whole family develop a clear plan and can also provide support to family members who want to set boundaries with the addict while encouraging them to go to rehab.

Types of Intervention in St. Louis

Interventions are not just confrontational, angry practices that are common in the media. Several types of St. Louis intervention programs are designed to fit every unique family and every addiction.

• Conversational models such as motivational interviewing and motivational enhancement, allow family members and the addict to have an open conversation about the addiction with the guidance of an intervention specialist.
• Consequence-based models, such as the Johnson Intervention Model, work well for those that depend on family for income and drug money. The interventions are based off the practice of ‘taking away’ the help that an addict is accustomed to receiving from family or friends and essentially forcing them to choose treatment.
• Encouragement models, such as the Invitational Model, work great for those who just need a push towards treatment. Small bits of encouragement from family and friends often go a long way in helping an addict to make the right choice.
• Non-confrontational intervention models, such as Systemic Intervention Model, are defined for the most aggressive or confrontational addicts who require special attention to the process of making the intervention feel safe and controlled.

Families may also choose brief interventions that are more along the lines of simply providing advice and encouragement by way of a privately pre-planned conversation. The end goal is always to make the addict see the need and true value of choosing treatment over addiction.

What Happens During an Intervention?

During an intervention, you speak to the addict about how the addiction affects you. Each person who attends the intervention has a chance to talk to the addict and encourage them to seek treatment. This all takes place with a professional interventionist guiding the conversation.

What is an Interventionist?

An interventionist is a therapist, who is uniquely qualified to help conduct a substance abuse intervention. They help you to plan, rehearse, and carry out the difficult process of asking an addict to get treatment. Interventionists attend the delicate intervention process to help keep everyone involved calm and on track.

Where do you Find an Interventionist?

Finding an interventionist in St. Louis, Missouri is not difficult. Private companies, government organizations, and community service locations may have an interventionist on staff.

According to the National Library of Medicine, intervention is one of the best ways to encourage a friend or family member to get the help that they need. Although not all interventions work, it may provide the nudge an addict needs to choose help. Of course, the best way to find an interventionist for your loved one in St. Louis, call us today.