Setting Up a Drug and Alcohol Intervention in Wisconsin

If your loved one has been abusing drugs or drinking alcohol in excess, you might have to set up a drug and alcohol intervention in Wisconsin. Through this process, you could potentially be able to encourage them to seek addiction treatment services before it is too late.

What Is Intervention?

A drug and alcohol intervention refers to the carefully planned process that involves talking to an addict so that they can accept help in them of addiction treatment. Often, it requires a collection of close family, friends, and other loved ones that the addict can listen to.

However, it is also encouraged that you invite an addiction treatment professional, a licensed counselor or therapist, or an expert interventionist to guide the process. You can also invite members from your loved one's church or faith to the meeting. By so doing, you would get enough support in your attempts at getting the addict into a treatment program.

After setting up a drug and alcohol intervention in Wisconsin, the people invited will gather together for the sole purpose of confronting the addict. During this meeting, members present will talk about the addiction, its various consequences, and how it has been leading to negative effects for the addict and for others around them. The meeting would also be an ideal time to talk them into accepting treatment through a drug or alcohol rehabilitation program.

You can also use an intervention to:

• Offer pre-arranged addiction treatment plans with clear guidelines, goals, and steps
• Provide specific and clear examples of the destructive behaviors of the addict, as well as on their impact on them, their loved ones, friends, and family
• Spell out what everyone present at the intervention is going to do in the event that the addict refuses to check into a treatment center

What Does Intervention Consist Of?

It is important to understand what an intervention consists of. Essentially, the group of people that you invited to the meeting will come together to confront the addict among them about their substance abuse and its various consequences.

The goal of the meeting would be to try and persuade the loved one to start making positive changes by specifically checking into an addiction treatment and rehabilitation program. This is because these programs are the only way that they will be able to turn their life around by overcoming their substance use disorder.

Often, the people you should invite to the meeting will include close loved ones, family, and friends as well as other addiction treatment and intervention professionals. They should be comprised of people that the addict can listen to, and who might have the power to motivate them to check into a drug rehab center.

It is also essential that you decide on what is going to happen during the intervention even before you include the addict in the meeting. By being well prepared, you can potentially think about anything that could go wrong during the meeting and come up with solutions for it.

To this end, you should gather the intervention group beforehand so that you can discuss how to perform the intervention in Wisconsin. During this initial meeting, you can talk about what is going to be said - and by whom - as well as what should happen during the actual intervention.

The initial meeting can also provide you with an opportunity to discuss everything that you know about the addict, their patterns of substance abuse, as well as how they are most likely going to react.

You can also use this meeting to write down a letter, a series of letters, and lists that can be read during the actual intervention. These writings should highlight the addiction and how it has been affecting everyone present.

By so doing, you will be better able to show the addict how their condition has been affecting them in their personal life, and how it has been intruding into the lives of their loved ones.

You might also want to outline all the consequences that are going to happen in the event that the addict refuses the help of the group. These consequences should include all the negative outcomes that members present will effect.

Some of the steps that you might want to take while setting up a drug and alcohol intervention in Wisconsin include:

• Make a plan
• Gather information
• Form the core intervention team
• Decide on the specific consequences to effect should the loved one refuse treatment
• Make notes on everything that everyone is going to say
• Host the intervention meeting
• Follow up, either by checking the addict into a rehab center or by enforcing the consequences that you threatened during the intervention meeting

For an intervention to be successful, it is essential that you plan carefully on what will happen during the actual meeting. Poor planning might only make the situation worse than it already is. This is because it could turn your loved one hostile by making them think that you were attacking them. In the long run, they might even refuse any offers for addiction treatment that you might lay out for them.

Is Intervention Necessary?

Even after you understand what drug and alcohol interventions involve, you might still wonder if it is a necessary step that you need to take. In many cases, you will realize that this meeting is ideal if you have a loved one, or close family or friend who has been struggling with substance abuse.

It might be necessary if they are unable to see or even unaware of how their substance abuse has been causing negative effects and consequences both to themselves and to others around them.

The meeting would be essential if your loved one has been denying the fact that their substance abuse has been causing problems. They might also have been placing blame for their issues on them, instead of on their ongoing drug use.

It is also important to work with intervention professionals especially if there is any risk that your loved one could react self-destructively or violently during the actual intervention meeting.

It is recommended that you do not invite anyone to the meeting who:

• Is disliked by your addicted loved one
• May sabotage the intervention meeting
• Might have an unmanaged substance abuse or mental health issue
• Might not always be able to put limits on what they are going to say or do over and above what was agreed upon during the initial planning meeting

Today, there are various intervention services available in Wisconsin. You can also consult with addiction intervention professionals working within the state. By so doing, you can get the professional help that you need to set up your own drug and alcohol intervention meeting.

By consulting with addiction professionals - including counselors and therapists, interventionists, psychiatrists, psychologists, and social workers - you might be able get help in organizing your intervention so that it is more effective.

These professionals will often consider the particular circumstances that you and the addicted loved one find yourselves in. they would also suggest the right approach, as well as guide you in the various types of follow-up plans and treatments that would most likely end up working best.

Although it is possible to conduct an intervention without the help of specialists and professionals, it is recommended that you have expert help. By having a professional at hand, you might be able to overcome any issues if your addicted loved one:

• Has been violent in the past
• Has shown suicidal thoughts and behaviors in the past
• Might already be using mood altering drugs
• Might be struggling with severe mental illness

Additionally, you might want to work with an addiction treatment professional to get the addict evaluated. By so doing, you will be able to determine the true extent and severity of your problem, as well as identify all the treatment options that might be appropriate.

Best Practices

• While researching various treatment options, consider the following points:
• Always steer clear of treatment centers that promise quick fixes use uncommon treatments and methods that might be potentially harmful
• Ask trusted doctors, mental health professionals, and addiction treatment experts about the treatment approach that might be best for your addicted loved one, as well as for recommendations of program that you can choose for them
• Check if your loved one's insurance plan is going to cover most or all of their treatment
• Find out all the admission steps that you need to take, including appointments for evaluation, if there might be a waiting list, and insurance pre-certification
• Get in touch with national organizations, local clinics, and trusted online support groups for advice on treatment programs
• In case the program would require your loved one to travel, you should make these arranges way ahead of time; you should also consider packing a suitcase for them

You should also think about the following best practices while setting up a drug and alcohol intervention in Wisconsin:

• Create a plan
• Gather all the necessary information
• Set up the consequences and boundaries that will happen in case the addict refuses help
• Share all the specific thoughts, feelings, and consequences that you are ready to adopt if your addicted loved one refuses treatment
• Take notes or write letters that you can use during the actual intervention meeting

CITATIONS

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2951979/

https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/principles-drug-addiction-treatment-research-based-guide-third-edition/principles-effective-treatment

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0740547207002942

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.3109/10826084.2014.860749