Addiction Intervention in Kansas City ~ Angela Pugh ~ 877.976.4196

The thought of doing an intervention on someone you love can be daunting. It is not an easy decision to get to, and not an easy position to be in. The one thing to remember is an intervention comes from a place of love, and that is what we want your person to feel.

When I plan an intervention with a family there are a lot of details to consider and a lot of conversations to have. I’m sure you are all tired of hearing me talk about the importance of choosing a treatment center but, of course, this is one of the first things we discuss. Truly, this process is entirely a collaborative effort between the entire team.

The Intervention Process

The good news is, throughout the entire process with me, you will know each and every step. You will know why we are doing what we are doing, what step comes next, and exactly how we are working to achieve our goal of helping the person you love.

I help you understand the ins and outs of the process so there are few surprises. There are a few different styles of intervention and I usually combine concepts from all of them. Most people are familiar with the model where your loved one doesn’t know we are coming. This is called the Johnson Model and often referred to as the surprise model. This is the most common approach because it is usually our best option for getting the person in the room.

With invitational and family model approaches the person knows in advance. The risk here is they may change their mind and not show up. I do this style of intervention when appropriate, and the results are just as good. It just takes a unique situation for this style to be the right fit.

Sometimes, after a family meets with me for the initial meeting they decide their person would respond well to me and think it is a good idea for us to invite them in. We follow the same procedures for an intervention, but we invite the person to a meeting instead of surprising them. This usually works well with someone who is aware they have an issue to deal with and wants to be proactive in the process.

The key thing I want people to know about intervention is that it is not chaotic and confrontational. It is not high drama with screaming and yelling and your person is not scared and intimidated. Oftentimes, even if tempers flare, we are prepared to handle this and we diffuse it quickly. Overall, we are approaching them as a team of people who love them and want to help make the best choices possible. We are working as a team on their behalf, and we want them to be a part of the team.

Finally, I hope this helps clear up some of the ‘mystery’ and myth about intervention. It is not scary and we work very hard to make them feel loved and comfortable through the entire process.

If you need more information about intervention, or any other substance abuse services, please call. In addition to intervention there are many options and services available to fit all kinds of people and situations.