How To Stage An Alcohol Intervention

There is no denying that living life with an alcoholic can be difficult. Although you always desperately want your friend or family member with a drinking problem to seek help, your repeated urgings that they quit drinking always seem hostile, and may be used as another excuse to abuse alcohol. When your loved one has a drinking problem that you think they need to seek serious help for, them the best course of action might be an intervention.

Before considering an intervention, you should know that the ultimate goal is for the alcoholic-whether it be your friend, spouse, or other family member-to willingly accept that their problem is hurting themselves as well as the people they care about and enter a treatment facility.

Who You Should Contact

It might be that the easiest part of planning an intervention is to contact a substance abuse counselor who can not only advise you on how to live with your alcoholic, but can also be present at the intervention to keep things under control. Counselors are used to talking to alcoholics who believe that every attempt to get them to sober up is some sort of personal insult. A counselor can not only advise you on how to follow through with the intervention, but they can advise the person you care about who has the drinking problem.

In the past, interventions for alcoholics were often similar to a cross between a surprise party and an ambush. This has led many alcoholics to simply deny that they have a problem and that the only problem is that everyone else has a problem with them drinking. It may be wise to notify the person with the alcohol problem that you have been speaking to a counselor several days in advance of the intervention, just so it does not come as a complete shock. Once again, if you are unsure how to communicate this to your alcoholic friend or family member, ask a substance abuse counselor for advice.

One of the people who would perhaps like to see your alcoholic friend or family member get sober that you might not have even considered is their employer. More frequently interventions for alcoholics take place at the place they work, because it is one of the few places they go where they aren't too terribly drunk. Make sure the employer is sympathetic to your plight and understands your intentions, and if you're in doubt about speaking to an employer then ask a counselor first.

Although interventions are inherently risky and can make matters worse both for you and the alcoholic in your life, it cannot be denied that continuing to abuse alcohol is far more dangerous than a failed intervention. If you believe a life is dependent on this intervention, then it is the only choice you have.

With alcoholism, there is not any known cure, but there is treatment. Four weeks at a treatment facility is only part of a lifetime spent sober, and you must always think about what will happen if either the intervention or the treatment fail. Don't offer ultimatums that you don't plan on delivering on. Becoming properly prepared for failure is the key to success. Best of luck to you.

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