An intervention is a profound yet loving and effective way to make a person with an addiction aware of the seriousness of their problem and help them become open to support from us and their family. Through a professional intervention led by an experienced interventionist, we do everything possible to initiate the right treatment for the person with the addiction.
Addiction is a form of compulsive behaviour that becomes increasingly difficult to control and eventually dominates a person’s entire life. There are different addictions: addictions to food, gaming, medication, hoarding, alcohol, drugs, gambling or sex. An intervention is possible for all these addictions. During an intervention, you enlist the help of an addiction specialist to confront a family member, friend, employee or colleague about their addiction. The aim is for them to accept help.
An intervention programme can be used when the person concerned does not want help. It is generally assumed that someone with an addiction problem will only accept help once they have hit rock bottom in many areas of their life and can no longer see any way out. Examples of such low points include losing your job or home, the breakdown of a relationship, or a mental and physical collapse. This is known as “hitting rock bottom”. However, there is no need to wait until personal or professional tragedies have occurred.
At such a point, the person probably does not recognise that things cannot continue this way. Or perhaps they do recognise the problem, but have given up hope that a different life is possible. They are certain that the people around them do not understand their addiction. Their previous care pathways seem to prove this. Your child, parent or partner needs exceptional additional support so that, together, we can tackle this problem with everything we have.
The purpose of the intervention is therefore to confront your loved one with the consequences of the addiction, while also making it clear that things can change—that they can get better. The problem is always confronted with love and compassion. Another part of this intervention programme is that we arrange and coordinate many matters behind the scenes, making an expedited emergency admission possible.
This intervention has two aims: to encourage the person with the addiction to accept treatment and to educate the family about the disease of addiction. In some cases, there may be a hereditary predisposition, meaning that this family disease affects not only the person concerned but also part of the family. Environmental factors may also play a role. These two factors may also occur in combination.
As a manager or head of department, you may be looking for help for an employee whom you believe has an addiction. Or for someone whose absence from work you suspect may be related to addiction. In that situation too, we can work step by step towards an intervention, sometimes involving loved ones as well, following careful consultation.
