How To Do An Intervention For Alcoholics

Watching a loved one, friend, or even employee gradually lose their life to an alcohol addiction is extremely difficult.

As the physical, psychological and behavioural symptoms of an alcohol addiction come to control their every waking moment, you will want to do everything you possibly can to support them.

However, in some instances, individuals who have become addicted to alcohol are unable to recognise that an addiction is impairing their life.  Instead, they will live in denial and dismiss your concerns and worries.

Yet doing so will gradually reduce the quality of their life and see them unable to function or cope without alcohol. In turn, a plethora of problems may well arise and cause an alcoholic to become inundated with short and long-term health complications.

If you have come to notice that a loved one, friend or employee has developed an unhealthy relationship with alcohol, there are many things that you can do to help them.

As you turn your thoughts to supporting an alcoholic, it is important to remember that although you may believe that an alcoholic will want to take advantage of the support available to them in order to overcome their addiction, this is not always the case.

In reality, due to the very nature of alcohol addictions, as noted above, you may well find your help rejected.

In this instance, staging an intervention for alcoholics may be necessary.  To offer insight into how to do an intervention for alcoholics, we have provided insight into alcohol interventions and how to do an intervention for alcoholics below.

What Is An Alcohol Intervention?

An alcohol intervention is essentially a face-to-face group meeting that sees you and many other individuals who are also concerned about an alcoholic meet with an addiction recovery specialist or psychologist to confront someone struggling with an alcohol addiction in a controlled environment.

Conducted either from your own home, the alcoholics home or another private setting, the sole purpose of an alcohol intervention is to ensure that addiction treatment is sought.

Is Staging An Alcohol Intervention Beneficial?

Before understanding how to do an intervention for alcoholics, you may wonder whether staging an intervention will be beneficial.

Should this resonate with you, it is worth understanding that a more significant number of alcoholics are thought to obtain and undergo addiction treatment when an intervention is staged.

This is because when an intervention for alcoholics is staged, professional support and guidance will be available.

Furthermore, throughout the intervention, addiction recovery specialists and medical professionals will ensure that your loved one, friend or employee can appreciate and come to understand the impact that their alcohol addiction has had, not only on their life but yours too.

How To Do An Intervention For Alcoholics

Understanding just how beneficial staging an intervention can be, you may now be wondering how to do an intervention for alcoholics.

To help you understand how to do an intervention for alcoholics, we have outlined the steps typically incorporated into an intervention below.

1. Contact Action Rehab

The first step in staging an intervention will require you to seek professional advice and guidance.  In this instance, we recommend calling us directly.

As you do so, we will listen to your concerns and discuss the signs and symptoms you may have observed in a loved one, friend or employee with you.

If we believe that an alcohol addiction is indeed present, we will discuss the benefits of staging an intervention with you.  We will also make suitable recommendations that will help you prepare for an intervention.

These recommendations often surround locating a safe space to host the intervention.

2. Create An Intervention Team

Although you may wish to stage an intervention on your own, as touched on above, interventions are usually conducted on a face-to-face group basis.  With this in mind, prior to staging an intervention, you must create an intervention team.

Typically, an intervention team will consist of family members, friends, employers, recovery support workers and psychologists.

3. Make A Plan Of Action

Having created an intervention team, a plan of action must be devised.  This plan will essentially determine what day the intervention is held, the time and the location.  It may also be beneficial to arrange a schedule for the intervention.  This will ensure that each member of the intervention team has time to express their worries.

Although we recommend making a plan of action for the intervention, we would ask you to bear in mind that it may need adjusting on the day.  Considering this, we would advise you to allow some time and room for flexibility, should it be required.

4. Consider What Will Be Said Throughout The Intervention

The overall aim of an intervention is to ensure that an alcoholic can commence addiction recovery treatment within a short period.  However, the outcome of the intervention can often be determined by what is said throughout an intervention and how it is said.

For example, if the individual in question believes that the intervention team appears confrontational, they are more likely to continue to reject the support that is available.

With this in mind, we recommended considering and planning what will be said throughout the intervention to increase the chance of treatment being secured.

5. Stage The Intervention

Having sought guidance, created an intervention team and developed a plan of action, the final step is to stage an intervention.

While staging an intervention is a last resort for many, it truly is the best thing to do.

As noted above, not only will staging an intervention for alcoholics ensure that professional treatment is administered, but an intervention will also alleviate the pressure and stress of substance misuse from your shoulders too.

Staging An Intervention For Alcoholics With Our Help

Across the United Kingdom, at least half a million people are dependent on alcohol.  Yet, sadly, only a small fraction of those seek addiction treatment.

If you are worried about a loved one, friend or employee and believe that it may be best to stage an intervention, we are here to help you.

Posted on Friday, June 18th, 2021 at 10:02 am in Alcoholism.