Call 888-647-0579 to speak with an alcohol or drug abuse counselor.

Who Answers?

Tips for Hiring an Intervention Specialist

After a certain point, addicts lose the ability to see the negative effects of drugs in their lives and the lives of others. In many cases, staging a drug intervention may be the only way to open up the addict’s eyes to the problem of addiction.

Considering the potential for volatility and heated exchanges, hiring an intervention specialist can greatly increase the likelihood of a successful outcome. An intervention specialist coordinates the planning for an intervention and facilitates the actual meeting.

As intervention specialists can vary in training, experience and overall effectiveness, finding the right one will take a little research and legwork. Ultimately, finding the right intervention specialist is a matter of finding the one that’s best suited for your set of circumstances.

When Should You Hire an Intervention Specialist?

Addiction affects different people in different ways. Where one person may become defensive and confrontational when confronted about a drug problem, another might make light of or even dismiss the allegation.

Addiction can also take on various forms, with some people preferring a single drug of choice while others partake of several different types of drugs at once. The effects of addiction on the addict’s overall well being also has a bearing on whether an intervention specialist should be consulted.

According to the Mayo Clinic, circumstances that warrant the help of a specialist include –

Addicts with a history of violent behavior
Addicts with a history of suicidal behavior or those who talk of suicide
Someone who abuses two or more mood-altering drugs at a time
Someone who tends to minimize the seriousness of his or her drug problem
Someone with a history of mental illness

Any one of the above scenarios can make an intervention meeting that much more difficult to carry out, let alone steer towards a positive outcome.

Training & Experience

It is helpful to have an interventionist – a trained third party – guide your intervention so that it is effective.

Drug intervention specialists have undergone training that specifically deals with the types of circumstances that can arise during an intervention. While certain standardized protocols apply for most all interventions, such as ensuring each participant contributes to the meeting, specialized training will likely be needed in cases where the addict has a history of violence and/or mental health problems. For these reasons, it’s important to ask questions regarding a specialist’s experience in the field as well as what types of credentials he or she holds.

Individualized Planning

A drug intervention specialist must have a certain degree of finesse in terms of being able to keep a productive line of communication going throughout the meeting. When hiring a specialist, make sure individualized planning is a part of his or her overall approach to the process.

Drawing up an intervention strategy that best addresses the issues at hand becomes an essential step for carrying out an effective intervention. In order to do this, the specialist will interview each participant beforehand to get a grasp on the addict’s circumstances and the events that have transpired as a result of his or her drug use.

Overall, an intervention specialist should be able to give you an idea of what to expect and guide the process along from start to finish.

More Treatment & Detox Articles

How Faith Based Addiction Treatment Centers Help You Overcome Addiction

Faith based addiction treatment is just one of the many types of drug treatment that are offered at various types of centers throughout the country. What makes a faith based addiction treatment center different than a traditional or non-faith based treatment center is that every aspect of treatment in a faith based addiction treatment center….

Low vitamin D heightens breast-cancer mortality rate

Disease twice as likely to spread in women deficient in the nutrient, study finds Women diagnosed with breast cancer are nearly twice as likely to have the disease spread to other parts of their bodies and are 73 per cent more likely to die from it if they have low levels of vitamin D, according….

Study: Seattle housing for alcoholics saves money

A program that gives homeless alcoholics a place to live and drink is saving taxpayers more than $4 million a year, according to a study released Tuesday. The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, endorses a “housing first” approach that calls for putting homeless people in permanent homes with supportive services….

Teen drinking not going away

Four ordinary kids sat around a table at a local youth center after being posed one simple question. It was the question asked of many in the under-21 crowd, and they gave the same answer given by a majority of their peers. “I drink. I’m not going to lie,” said a 16-year-old. It’s the same….

Avoiding alcohol's temptations in 'overwhelming' war zone

KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN — Once each week, in a fluorescent-lit room in a stout building near the heart of Kandahar Air Field, a multinational mix of troops and civilians gather to take on a battle that can’t be fought with conventional weapons. Sitting around a table, or on overstuffed furniture, they talk about bad days, frustrating….