Alcohol intervention strategies, as confirmed by intervention specialists, should always involve compassion and deep concern for the good of the alcoholic. People who can always volunteer themselves for the welfare of the alcoholic are usually the loved ones, such as relatives and close friends.
Take the Initial Step
An initial step of intervention to be performed by the concerned relatives and friends is writing the alcoholic a letter by which the concerned individuals may relay their feelings without reprimanding or blaming the alcohol addict. The letter must also be an expression of love and care which is why they are intervening with the problem of the affected alcoholic. The letter, as part of a number of alcohol intervention strategies, should not take negative statements since this would only worsen the problem.
Prep Those Who Want to Help Intervene
Some guidelines that people must remember when applying alcohol intervention strategies are the proper feeding of information to those who want to intervene about addiction — particularly alcohol addiction prior — to the actual intervention. The interventionists must also be reminded that intervention should take place in a neutral site and those who will be part of the intervening party are family members, close friends and, if necessary, trusted co-workers. Intervention should last for about 60 to 90 minutes. Not too much time should be spent since confrontation and debates may occur when intervention lasts longer than the suggested span of time. An addiction evaluation should always follow the meeting.
Explore Other Helpful Strategies
Alcohol intervention programs should also be considered as one of the alcohol intervention strategies, especially if the involved alcoholic refuses to be advised or to listen to the intervention of family members. An intervention by the family members and close friends can be combined with an employer or a healthcare professional to ensure success of the intervention.
The aim of all parties is to compassionately confront the alcoholic or problem direction on how his or her action is hurting the feelings of a lot of people around him or her. This will instill in the mind of the alcoholic that he or she has a problem while also showing to the victim that he has loved ones who will support any treatment he or she wants to subjected to.
Employer and Health Experts Play a Part, Too
The roles of the employer and the health expert are very important as well since the employer can give assurance to the victim that the person can retain his or her job right after seeking treatment or right after being cured. The health expert can specifically explain the bad effects of alcohol to the body and the specific treatment the alcoholic would have to go through to ensure a better and healthy life. An organized intervention with a trained interventionist is always a big move to ensure proper recovery of the alcoholic.
I am in DESPERATE NEED of getting help with my mom. She has been drinking for about 14 years. She has had a lot of scary things happen due to her drinking problem, but nothing beats her accident last year. On Christmas day after I dropped my oldest son off at her house, she decided to drive to the store (completely intoxicated) in a snow storm. My 12 year old son called me and told me that she had gone to the store and was missing for 2 hours and he was worried. Come to find out she had driven over the yellow line and smash head on into a pickup truck. We could have lost her that day. She fractured her c2 vertebrae, broke 4 ribs, shattered her hip and pelvis, broke both of her arms. She is now fully disabled and can’t walk without her cane. There is so much more to the story, but she is currently still drinking excessively. I have had a lot of trauma happen in my life in the last 9 years.. and I am unfortunately going to battle much more. I would like to have my mom through all of this. And I need help getting her help.. it’s way beyond just me trying to help her at this point. 🙁