An alcohol intervention is usually the first step toward sobriety for many alcoholics. It occurs when the family is fed up with the alcoholic’s drinking behavior or has concerns about the health and legal issues of the alcoholic in their family. The family then chooses to engage in an alcohol intervention program using an interventionist in some cases.
When they use an interventionist, they are hiring a professional who understands how an alcohol intervention usually goes. He or she helps the alcoholic’s family say what they need to say about the alcoholic’s behavior and helps push the alcoholic into going into treatment. The family should all be supportive of treatment and should look to the interventionist for advice and support. Usually, an alcohol intervention goes well when an interventionist is used.
The alcohol intervention can be done without the use of a professional. Even so, a treatment program should already be on alert to accept the alcoholic should they agree to treatment. The family members speak their piece about the alcoholic’s behavior and their own personal concerns until they have convinced the alcoholic to enter treatment. The alcohol intervention shouldn’t be judgmental but should instead focus on the hope and wishes of the family for the alcoholic to get better.
Regardless of how the alcohol intervention proceeds, the ultimate goal is to convince the alcoholic that they have a problem requiring treatment. It should be a calm affair in which the family and friends of the alcoholic say what they need to say in order to tell the alcoholic what has happened as a result of their drinking. They need to see the effects of their drinking on others before they see the effects of drinking on themselves.
If the alcoholic agrees to enter treatment, it should proceed as quickly as possible because if the alcoholic drinks again, it may require another alcohol intervention to get them to agree to treatment again. It works best if the family has a treatment facility all lined up and is prepared to take them directly to treatment. If an outpatient treatment program is decided upon, it should proceed the very next day so that the alcoholic doesn’t change their mind.
In treatment, the alcoholic comes to realize that the alcohol intervention was done with love and caring and doesn’t feel as threatened by the whole thing as they were in the beginning. They may even come back to thanking their family members for having the alcohol intervention.