Friends and family members play vital roles in the recovery process. Substance use disorders (SUDs) can be challenging to overcome without help. However, individuals in recovery with a strong support system have a greater chance of completing treatment successfully and maintaining their sobriety at home. 

What Is an Intervention?

An intervention is a professionally guided process that helps individuals facing addiction and their loved ones have a structured conversation about the person's drug or alcohol use. The goal of an intervention is to get the individual into treatment, but it can also be successful in getting them to agree to seek help on their own.

Interventions typically involve those closest to the individual, such as friends, family members, co-workers, or other social support networks. It's important to note that not all interventions need to be confrontational. Many professionals believe that a gentle approach is more likely to be successful.

If you're considering an intervention for someone you love, you should keep a few things in mind. 

• First, it's important to understand what addiction is and how it affects the individual.

• Second, it's crucial to develop a plan with specific goals and objectives.

• Finally, always remember that the goal of an intervention is to get the individual into treatment — not to fix all of their problems.

Interventions are often emotional and challenging for families, which is why it is best to hire a professional to help facilitate the meeting. A professional will know how to keep the conversation on track and guide the conversation productively and respectfully.

The bottom line is that interventions can successfully get someone with SUD into treatment. Still, interventions are best done with the help of a counselor or other SUD professional.

Family Therapy Before the Intervention

Most individuals struggling with SUD engage in treatment because of positive family involvement and intervention. Family members play a key role in recognizing that a loved one has a problem and needs help. 

Helping a loved one seek treatment isn't just a matter of providing encouragement or moral support. While your support is crucial, you must also be prepared to get your own therapy before and after an intervention.

Family therapy before the intervention can provide you with the tools and knowledge you need best to help your loved one through their recovery journey. It can also provide you and your family with much-needed support before the intervention as you navigate this difficult time.

Family or group therapy without the struggling individual is often recommended before an intervention because family members can learn from professionals how to effectively communicate with and support the struggling individual through the process.

Support After the Intervention

In SUD treatment, the individual has traditionally received the lion's share of attention from psychiatrists, therapists, and social workers. However, in more advanced, person-centered treatment programs, all the members of the household are included in the therapeutic process.

Spouses, partners, parents, grandparents, children, and anyone intimately related to the addict are strongly encouraged to participate in counseling sessions and other rehabilitation activities. The rationale for this is simple: SUDs don't just affect the addict – they have a profound impact on everyone close to them.

By involving all household members in treatment, counselors can help break the cycle of addiction and prevent relapses. In addition, family members can provide critical support and understanding during the difficult early stages of recovery. 

Group or family therapy can support family members who are struggling with their own demons. When family members can come together and share their experiences, they can begin to heal the wounds of the past and build a new foundation for the future.

Healthy Support vs. Enabling

For many families, codependency is one of the underlying factors in disordered behavior. Codependency is a behavioral pattern in which one member of a relationship enables another's continued substance abuse or other unhealthy behavior in an effort to gain approval, love, or power over the other.

Enabling often occurs in subtle ways, making it difficult to distinguish between genuine support and codependency. In many cases, the codependent individual is unaware of their role in enabling their loved one's SUD. 

It can be challenging to tell the difference between supportive and codependent behavior when it comes to a loved one battling addiction, but there are some key differences.

A supportive family member's goal is to help the loved one recover from addiction. They may attend meetings with their loved one, go to counseling appointments, and research resources that can help with treatment. 

A codependent relative unconsciously wants to keep the person addicted so that they rely on the relative for help. For example, they may enable the person's substance use by providing them with money or a place to stay.

SUD intervention support entails providing resources and information that can help an individual struggling with addiction, whereas enabling means supporting addictive behaviors by continuing to allow them to use. 

The confusion around support versus enabling is another good reason to attend group therapy sessions before and after the intervention. Again, a trained addiction professional can help you draw the line between helping and causing further harm to your struggling loved one.

Hiring a professional to facilitate an intervention drastically improves the odds of successfully getting the individual to seek help. At Next Level Recovery Associates, we will work with you and your family before the meeting to help you communicate your concerns in a respectful and non-confrontational way. Our counselors and therapists will develop a plan for what will happen during and after so that everyone is on the same page and knows what to expect. Perhaps most importantly, a professional can support you and your family before, during, and after the intervention. This support is essential, as interventions can be very emotionally charged. Having someone to talk to who understands what you’re going through can make all the difference in helping you get through this tough time. If you are concerned about a loved one's destructive behavior, contact Next Level Recovery Associates today at consult@nextlevelra.com.