The Process of Alcohol Intervention

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Alcohol intervention is the process of getting a person who has become addicted to alcohol to seek professional help. This is usually orchestrated by concerned family and close friends. Alcohol abuse is one problem that has been plaguing the society since time immemorial. While there is nothing wrong for people of legal age to drink alcohol, drinking too much of it on a daily basis is undesirable. In cases where the person’s alcohol intake has gone overboard, an intervention is necessary. 

Alcohol intervention basically involves confronting the alcoholic about how his alcohol use has gone overboard, to the point where it can be detrimental to him and those around him. Telling an alcoholic that his alcohol use is affecting everyone around him can be extremely hard, especially since the common reflex of an alcoholic is to deny that he has an alcohol problem in the first place. An alcohol intervention must be planned properly. You can’t just confront alcoholics outright; you have to talk to them in a secure and non-judgmental environment. The best time to confront an alcoholic is when he is sober, as alcohol can impair one’s judgment and one’s ability to realize the intensity of the situation.  

If possible, after confronting the alcoholic, bring him to a professional substance abuse counsellor. Do not use force since the main reason for alcohol intervention is to get the alcoholic to stop on his own accord and not through force. There is not much that can be accomplished by force. Using force on an alcoholic can even make the problem worse. Remember that the purpose of the intervention is to get the alcoholic to seek professional help to overcome the addiction. 

Alcohol and drug treatment centres have counsellors that help families initiate a confrontation in a controlled and non-judgmental environment. This is to put the alcoholic in an environment where he would want to listen to the people around him.  

There are some cases where the alcoholic’s family lets him know that they are meeting with a counsellor to talk about his alcohol abuse before the actual alcohol intervention takes place. This causes the alcoholic to realize that his alcohol abuse is affecting his family to such an extent where they would take it up with a counsellor. Once the alcoholic realizes the extent of his alcohol abuse, it is more likely that he would attend a meeting on his own accord. This method is done so that the alcoholic does not feel as if he was ambushed and forced into treatment.

It is important to keep in mind that not all alcoholics respond well to professional intervention. In fact, some substance abuse centres have stopped using these kinds of interventions because when the process fails, the family ends up being torn apart which leads to more problems rather than overcoming alcohol abuse.

Alcohol intervention is never an easy process. It is hard enough to accept that someone very important to you has an alcohol abuse problem, and it is even harder to confront this problem as not all individuals respond well to interventions.

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