How to Plan a Successful Intervention

October 9th, 2018

Substance abuse is a problem that affects not only the person struggling with it but also those around them. While some people struggling with addiction will decide to enter treatment on their own, other people need the encouragement of friends and family to recognize the problem and seek help. When substance abuse has clearly become a danger to someone’s health and they refuse to acknowledge the issue or pursue treatment, an intervention may be necessary.


Intervention Definition


The first step in planning a successful intervention is understanding the goal of having one. In many cases, media tends to portray interventions as high conflict situations. However, such a situation would do more harm than good in helping your loved one seek the help they need.

Instead, an intervention should be a situation where those on the intervention team speak about the concerns they have for their loved one, discuss the impact that substance abuse has on their lives, and encourage their loved one to seek help. An intervention should not:


● Try to force the individual to enter treatment

● Overwhelm or shame the person

● Include venting frustration and anger

● Ambush the person

● Take place while the individual is intoxicated

● Accuse the person of being an addict


While an intervention shouldn’t focus on forcing the individual into seeking treatment, it may be necessary to establish consequences of not doing so. The individual still has a choice in whether to go to treatment, but it is up to the intervention team to reinforce those consequences if the person refuses.


With those things in mind, there are several steps you can take to help make your intervention successful. 

1. Choose Your Intervention Team Carefully


The members of your intervention team are the core of the operation, as they have an emotional connection to the person struggling with substance abuse. They should be people who care deeply about the individual and want to help the situation, not worsen it. Family members, as well as close friends and coworkers, are acceptable members of an intervention team. Having anywhere between three and ten members is most effective.


While sometimes a child can help to encourage a change in behavior, it’s often best that only adults are part of the team in case the subject of the intervention reacts negatively. Only planned members of the intervention team should be present. In some cases, bringing in a professional interventionist can be the exception to unrelated third parties participating in the intervention.

2. Thoroughly Plan the Intervention


While it may be tempting to rush into an intervention, you’ll increase your chances of success if you plan as much as possible. Some things you’ll want to take into consideration are:


● Picking a proper date and time

● Choosing a private location

● Doing enough research to understand your loved one’s substance abuse or addiction

● Making sure everyone is on the same page

● Choosing who is going to speak, what they will speak about, and when


It's not uncommon to take several weeks to plan a successful intervention. The key is to have all the essential details prepared, but not to make the plan so complex that it becomes difficult to successfully adhere to it.

3. Hold a Practice Intervention


Because interventions have the potential to become highly emotional situations, practice is essential for keeping everyone on track. This lets every member of the team remember what they wanted to say and get feedback before heading into the real intervention.


A practice intervention is also a great time to prepare for potential backlash. When going through an intervention, the person struggling with substance abuse may act out or say harsh things they don’t mean. During practice, your team can prepare for these situations, as well as practice responding to potential arguments.


If a member of the intervention team doesn't attend rehearsals, they may not be a good fit for the team. Proper preparation is essential for success, and the team should be willing to commit to helping their loved one.

4. Prepare Treatment in Advance


Accepting that they need to go into treatment can be a difficult enough hurdle to overcome, and you don’t want the subject of the intervention to become overwhelmed by the effort of finding treatment. Even if the individual agrees, it can be very easy for them to back out if there is time to reconsider. Before heading into the intervention, have an available treatment center ready to go so that your loved one has a place to go immediately. Here at Windmill Wellness Ranch, we are happy to assist in the intervention process for incoming patients. Feel free to give us a call or send us an email to learn more about how we can help.

5. Follow the Plan


Even when you practice thoroughly, it can be tempting to go off script during the actual intervention. Don’t do it. The point of the plan is to help everyone know what they need to do, even when emotions are running high. Know your part, stick to your turn, and it will be easy for everyone to stay focused on the task of helping their loved one, not trying to recover from a change of events.

6. Remain Open and Caring


Nothing makes people shy away from help like antagonistic attitudes. Just as the subject of the intervention won’t likely agree to treatment if you force them into it, lashing out will have much the same effect. Having a solid support system is essential for a successful recovery from substance abuse or addiction and showing that everyone on the intervention team is willing to be that support can be critical to success.


Everyone should have open and warm body language, avoiding crossing arms and legs. At the same time, you should convey your love and support through your words. Even when tempers start to run high, you should keep your emotions under control and maintain a supportive environment.

7. Don’t Give Up


While interventions can be the key to getting a loved one to accept that they have a problem with substance abuse and need to seek help, even the most well practiced and executed of interventions can fail if the person isn’t willing to change their behavior. Sometimes multiple discussions and follow up interventions are necessary before change can happen. If the person refuses, it’s critical to make sure you act on your stated consequences for not seeking treatment, as it proves that there are further drawbacks to their substance use.




With the proper preparation and execution, an intervention can provide the encouragement your loved one needs to start to move past their substance abuse and begin the road to recovery.

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