If someone you love is struggling with drug or alcohol addiction, chances are, you are feeling a wide variety of emotions. It is not uncommon to feel frustrated, angry, and helpless when a loved one is struggling with addiction. Addiction is a dangerous disease that can truly wreck havoc on an addict’s life and have a profoundly negative impact on their behavior.
When a person is struggling with addiction, they may effectively become a “different person,” and often will become very angry or defensive when confronted about their drug or alcohol use. For this reason, many people experience anxiety about how exactly to approach a loved one about their addiction. Here are a few useful tips on how to successfully stage an intervention for a loved one.
Seek the Help of a Professional Interventionist
It is not advisable to stage an intervention without seeking the support of a professional. There are a few reasons for this. Firstly, a professional interventionist is very experienced with different kinds of interventions and can give you an idea of what kinds of behaviors you may expect to encounter when you confront your lived one about their intervention.
This can help prevent you from coming across any surprises during what is an already trying situation. An interventionist is also a valuable resource because they are not emotionally invested in the addict’s behavior and can act as a calm and rational moderator who can keep the discussion on track during the intervention. This can be very useful if an intervention becomes very heated or emotional.
Make A Written List Of The Ways In Which Your Loved One’s Behavior Has Impacted You
It is very important that all parties involved bear in mind what the purpose of an intervention is: to help make an addict aware of the way that their addiction and their addictive behavior is affecting the people in their life. This is not a time for blame or anger.
It is very easy, however, to lose sight of the intention of an intervention when emotions run high, so making a list ahead of time of everything you would like to say can help make sure that you avoid statements that come from a place of anger. Most importantly, the subject of the intervention must answer some questions sincerely. Reality does not always set in at the onset of the intervention, and time must pass for the subject to come to full grips with reality regarding their addiction.
Talk To Others Who May Have Been Affected By Your Loved One’s Addiction
Chances are there are a number of people in your loved one’s life who are being affected by their behavior. Approach the people who you believe may also be interested in attending an intervention. Once you know who would like to be in attendance, tell everyone who is interested that they may join you when you visit the professional interventionist so that the whole group may strategize together. Approaching others should always come, however, from a place of helping the addict and not gossiping about them.
Assess When The Best Time And Place For An Intervention Is
Ideally, an intervention should occur at a place where an addict feels that they are in a safe place and will not feel threatened. It is very likely that an addict may become angry or defensive at the onset of an intervention, so choosing a location where they feel safe can help minimize feelings of vulnerability on the part of the addict.
It is also preferable that the addict be sober at the time of the intervention so that they can process the information that is being given to them as calmly and rationally as possible. For many addicts, mornings are the time when they may be most likely to be sober. If you live with an addict, take not of the moments they seem to be sober.