What Are The Different Intervention Techniques?

When a person is suffering from a mental health issue or is overusing drugs or alcohol, it is recommended that friends and family members work with a professional interventionist to stage an intervention.

Having a professional involved in the intervention will help facilitate the entire event, beginning with the planning efforts and ending with helping escort the individual into treatment. According to the National Council on Alcohol and Drug Dependence, almost 90% of interventions are successful in terms of getting the individual to agree to enter a treatment program when a highly-trained, professional interventionist is involved in the process.

Because addiction and mental health issues do not show the same way in everyone, there are several different types of interventions you can choose. The two most common intervention types are confrontational and invitational. Either variety of interventions you choose, the goals of them are the same; to get the individual the help they need to combat their addiction or mental health issues.

Let’s break down the different techniques.

This scenario is the one most people think of when they hear the word intervention. It is a classical style where a group of friends and family members confront their loved one suffering from addiction during a surprise intervention.

This kind of intervention focuses on showing the individual that their struggles are not only harmful to them, but to everyone around them. This is done to ensure that the individual understands the pain they’re causing and that the people in their life only want the best for them. And, at this time, that is professional treatment for their troubles.

Whereas the Johnson Model technique relies on surprising the individual with an intervention, this technique is considered an Invitational Intervention model. The ARISE model involves the person struggling with addiction or mental health in the entire process.

This process was built with research-based standards that involve three stages. However, once the individual dealing with substance abuse agrees to enter treatment, the intervention ends no matter the stage.

• First Stage: This is when a concerned member of the family or another loved one contacts a professional interventionist to help organize an intervention. An initial meeting will be scheduled for all individuals to meet and encourage treatment.
• Second Stage: The actual intervention. This stage can involve more than one meeting where the subject is encouraged to enter treatment.
• Third Stage: This stage is considered a formal intervention where serious consequences are laid out if treatment is not chosen.

The ARISE model works best when friends and family members are committed to the process which can take several weeks to complete.

The Family Systems technique is also an invitational technique that involves entire families that are battling addiction. This technique is designed to confront members of the family that are either enabling the substance abuse or are struggling with substance use disorders, as well.

The goal of this technique is to have the members of the family enter treatment either individually, or as a family. This method involves more than one intervention as there may be several spread out over a few weeks or even months. The end goal is to get the entire family some form of treatment.

There are times when Family Systems Interventions end with certain individuals entering treatment while other members of the family attend therapy, counseling, or some other form of support treatment.

The professional team at Drew Horowitz & Associates has helped hundreds of individuals get the treatment they need to begin–and continue–their recovery. If you or someone you love is struggling with mental health or a substance use disorder, contact us immediately. We’ll work together to help put your family back together.