How to Find the Best Professional Interventionist for Drug and Alcohol Addiction
When your loved one needs help for their addiction, the specific course of intervention and treatment is critical for their recovery success. A professional interventionist brings expert perspective to your present challenges, and the right interventionist can be the linchpin in your loved one’s progress toward recovery. Finding professional intervention help is more accessible than you might expect.
What is keeping your loved one trapped in the cycle of addiction? There is a lot you can guess from the outside looking in, and there is a lot you cannot know about the relationship they have with their addiction and the extent to which their control is lost. It’s important for you to come to accept that their recovery is ultimately outside of your control; you can’t do it for them. But there is one aspect of their journey that you can significantly influence: you can ensure that compassionate, reliable help is available should the addicted person decide to accept it.
This is a vulnerable time your loved one is going through, and an intervention is a vulnerable process. Ideally, you won’t have to try multiple times to get it right because these false starts may edge the addicted person further into isolation, trepidation, and resistance. You can take the time to plan thoroughly, but the ultimate best approach will be to consult with someone who has real and extensive experience moderating and guiding interventions and troubleshooting unexpected hurdles along the way. Getting professional intervention help is an accessible next step that allows you to continue preparing before you commit to sitting your loved one down to talk seriously. A professional interventionist’s help may be the pivotal intersection that takes you from where you all are now on to the path of recovery.
How Is a Professional Interventionist's Perspective Unique?
Professional intervention help typically comes from a certified intervention specialist, social worker, psychologist or psychiatrist, or a licensed alcohol and drug counselor. They are trained to manage a carefully structured conversation and to steer it in the direction of professional treatment options, but they are also trained to tactfully and compassionately navigate the complicated and vulnerable dynamics that often arise in these scenarios. In the end, an intervention for your loved one’s addiction recovery is an incredibly important step in the right direction, but it is also an incredibly difficult and heavy responsibility to assume.
A professional interventionist is prepared to take on this responsibility for your family. They have proven experience with what works, what doesn’t, and even how each situation is unique. They have a grip on very clearly defined treatment options and next steps. Because they are familiar with particular treatment centers, they are able to paint a detailed picture of what you and your loved one can expect from every step along the journey, the guides who will join you along the way, and how people have been able to get sober and maintain lasting recovery in the past.
What you may not realize is that one person’s addiction does not play out in isolation. The powerlessness that they experience may also be felt by those around them, and addiction becomes a family disease. Experienced interventionists who have worked closely with treatment centers understand how one person’s addiction can significantly affect those who care about them and how the recovery journey is a challenge for the family of the addict as well. They can also help you get connected with support and resources so that family members and friends can set productive boundaries and take care of themselves while lending solid support to the loved one with a substance use disorder.
Who Is the Right Interventionist for Your Family and Your Loved One with Addiction?
The right interventionist is someone who helps you feel comfortable and confident about what is to come. This is a vulnerable process, and it’s important that sensitive feelings and information can arise in the space the interventionist holds. But, of course, there are more important criteria than comfort and confidence alone. Look for the following assets in an intervention professional:
- They hold credentials and real experience with successful interventions. CIP or certified intervention professional is the primary mark of expert training.
- They respect and commit to privacy and confidentiality—especially as these are common barriers to alcoholism treatment in the first place.
- They value exhaustive pre-intervention work as it is an important time to get the family involved, to share perspectives, and to determine the best course of action for the loved one in need of help.
- They are connected with a comprehensive treatment center and, therefore, have their eye on the long-range recovery process.
- They can also take into account co-occurring disorders and underlying mental illness. They have a comprehensive understanding of treating the whole person.
- They have experience with and are ready for the unexpected. They have a plan but can prepare the family for the eventuality that the addicted individual continues to resist treatment options.
- They can embrace complicated family dynamics and any tension that has built up in the family system. They can give practical solutions and support, so the family can head in the direction of greater connection, rather than greater dissolution.
The right interventionist is strong and sensitive, firm and receptive, on-course and open-minded, all at the same time. Their third-party perspective helps to bring the impending critical family discussion down to the ground. They can help to keep the family’s shared goals in focus even when divergent feelings and opinions arise.
How Can You Find the Right Professional Intervention Help?
Ultimately, the most reliable course to take when finding a professional interventionist who is right for your family is to reach out to an addiction treatment center. You can be confident that any professional intervention help they recommend will be carefully vetted and dependable. And just as important as the caliber of your interventionist is the direct path to appropriate and adequate treatment.
Because recovery from addiction is a journey rather than a destination, it’s imperative that your family gets set up with comprehensive services and support. Not just intervention support, not just a detox program, and not just counseling and strategies for the one with substance use disorder—now is the time to embrace a commitment to overall health and transformation. When every person affected by someone’s addiction commits to their own personal responsibilities and growth, they set a positive example for the one at the heart of the struggle. Their best chance for recovery success is when everyone involved has the ultimate support they need—before, during, and after treatment.
Alta Mira offers comprehensive treatment for people struggling with drug and alcohol addiction as well as co-occurring mental health disorders and process addictions. Contact us to learn more about our renowned programs and how we can help you or your loved one start the journey toward recovery.
