Tips for Holding a Successful Intervention

Legacy Healing Center Blog

Learn what steps are needed to ensure a successful intervention for your friend or loved one.

You might be wondering how to set a successful intervention in place if you have a friend or loved one struggling with an addiction and is refusing to acknowledge it.

Perhaps you have tried to speak to this person or offered help in the past, but you feel like your words or offers are not doing anything to remedy the situation.

Interventions provide someone caught up in addiction with a structured setting and a chance to make a positive change in his or her life before it spirals out of control.

And it is important to learn how to hold an intervention before setting out on this endeavor, considering 90 percent of interventions done properly influence the individual to seek immediate help, according to the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence.

Let’s look at some tips you should consider in order to hold a successful intervention:

Select The Right Team of People – Interventions should be a positive and motivating experience, so you will want to only choose people who can speak positively and encourage the person to seek help.

Successful interventions typically include friends, family members, church/faith members, teachers, or anyone else who truly cares about the individual and wants to assist them in getting help. Keep in mind, this event is not the time to attack the person, remind them of their wrongs, or try to make up.

This stage of the planning process is also a great time to consider bringing in a professional interventionist who can help you come up with an intervention plan and assist you in finding the right program should the person want to seek help.

Choose a Quiet Time and Spot – Because drugs and alcohol affect a person’s ability to act and think clearly, you will want to try to choose a time when the person is sober (or as close to sober as possible). This will help your friend or family member be able to better understand everyone’s intentions and hopefully, react more calmly.

Consider a time early in the morning, or immediately after a major incident, such as a drug charge or vehicle violation in which the situation is more vulnerable and the individual may listen to reason. You will also want to select a neutral, private spot to hold the event.

Consider a place outside of one’s home, as it isn’t uncommon for the person to then retreat to a personal bedroom or bathroom. A therapist or interventionist’s office can be the ideal environment.

Don’t Discount Rehearsals – Rehearsing what you will say, and who will speak (and when) is imperative, according to many drug intervention programs. Emotions and tensions can run high during an intervention, but rehearsing it beforehand can make the process much smoother, and help messages come across clearly and at the right time.

Create a script with your interventionist of what you would like to say, and practice it multiple times before the event takes place. Once the intervention has started, don’t adlib or go off script as it can throw off the entire event and jeopardize the outcome.

Control Your Temper and Body Language – Though what you say during an intervention is crucial, your body language and how you say it is just as important. Be sure to keep eye contact, do not cross your arms or legs, and don’t launch verbal attacks or fight fire with fire.

It isn’t uncommon for the person being brought into the intervention to have his or her guard up or be unruly. This is why it is key to keep calm and try to keep the peace

Work on Plan B – Sometimes even the most prepared and thought-out intervention doesn’t go as plan. In some cases, the person may yell, say very nasty things, leave suddenly, or in extreme cases, get violent.

An interventionist can help you prepare for a Plan B situation in case any of these reactions occur.

These are just a few helpful tips on how to hold an intervention. When you work with a counselor, interventionist, or drug intervention program specialist, you can also schedule a spot in a rehabilitation center for your friend or loved one to enter into if the intervention is successful.

At Legacy Healing Center, you can learn more about successful interventions, detox options, and rehabilitation programs.

Our family of medical professionals and counselors are here for you and ready to provide the right resources to assist in helping your friend or loved one. Call us today at 888-597-3547.