How to Stage an Alcohol Abuse Intervention

Your support might be a starting point for them to decide to quit alcohol. As a parent or guardian, it’s normal to feel scared, angry, or confused if you discover your child is drinking. But it’s important to remember that you still have a major impact on the choices that your child makes, especially during their preteen and early teen years. Staging an intervention is a very big step, and perhaps not always the best one to try first. Many people prefer addressing an alcoholic one-on-one before moving on to the more extreme measure, for many reasons. By Buddy T

Buddy T is a writer and founding member of the Online Al-Anon Outreach Committee with decades of experience writing about alcoholism.

Dr. Okhifun is a passionate medical doctor, with over five years’ experience as a general practitioner. His passion for medical education led to his journey in medical writing. He also serves as medical coordinator and content writer for Gerocare Solutions, for which he also volunteers as a health advisor/consultant for the elderly. In McMahon’s experience, the subject of an intervention is usually grateful for the care and support shown by family and friends. Your loved one is more likely to get defensive if they’re faced with a group of people. That’s why some experts advise against a big formal intervention.

Encouraging your loved one to get help

Family and friends who want to stage an intervention can make a plan for one on their own, or they can consult with a professional interventionist. This professional will structure the planning process, guide the intervention team, and lead the overall event. Professional counseling can help them manage problems that contribute to substance abuse. Alcohol in large doses clouds thinking and impairs reasoning faculties. Many alcoholics hardly have senses about them to realize how their drinking habits are ruining their health, relationships, and work. They spend their energies planning how to procure the next drink and live their lives one drink at a time.

• Try to show them as much kindness and compassion as it took to organize the intervention in the first place.
• The immersive nature of such programs often proves beneficial in breaking destructive patterns and establishing new, healthier habits.
• Women for Sobriety – Organization dedicated to helping women overcome addictions.
• Maybe attend an AA meeting with them or arrange to start couples therapy or family therapy sessions, or be there for them when they’re facing moments of doubt.

The immersive nature of such programs often proves beneficial in breaking destructive patterns and establishing new, healthier habits. SMART recovery meetings, in contrast, are a science-based program. They focus on facilitating self-help groups to assist individuals with addiction. These self-help groups encourage members to build motivation, coping skills, and positive behaviors to help them overcome addiction.

Levels of Care

Family days at treatment centers are social, sometimes centered around an activity like a cookout. The goal is to get people to connect with their families and enjoy their time giving them a glimpse of the restored healthy lifestyle that is to come. The purpose is to discover what led to the alcohol use disorder to begin with, what has worsened it over time, and what needs to change for the person to avoid relapse for good.

People should speak for themselves and the problems they experience. For example, an alcoholic’s husband could talk about how worried he gets late at night when he’s not sure if his wife is still at the bar or if she was hurt on the way home. You want to give your loved one a chance to safely talk about why they’re drinking. That means you shouldn’t argue, yell, threaten them, or vent anger in a harmful way at them.

Discuss your Situation

We suggest avoiding any judgments, and instead, focus on keeping the person safe. You should also remove any alcohol from the vicinity and ensure that the how to do an intervention for an alcoholic person remains hydrated. Anyone who agrees to help should also be genuine about the effort and ready for the amount of serious work that goes into it.