When your loved one needs help overcoming their issues with substance abuse, your choice of interventionist can make the difference between relapse and recovery. The certified professional interventionist you choose needs to bring to the table all of the tools, knowledge and empathy needed to repair the damage that addiction has caused to your family.
Below, we’ll examine some of the questions you need to ask in order to find an interventionist that’s right for your unique situation.
Why Is an Expert Interventionist So Important?
The National Survey on Drug Use and Health recently released a report showing that in 2016, roughly 21 million Americans 12 years and older were in need of substance abuse treatment. That number translates to nearly 1 in 13 people! Of these, only 3.8 million received some form of addiction treatment. Clearly, there is a troubling number of people out there who need help and aren’t getting it.
It’s not easy to convince a loved one struggling with addiction to seek help. Addicts are often the last one to accept the fact they have a problem, and confronting the issue head-on is bound to trigger a range of powerful and unpleasant emotions in everyone involved. With the guidance of a certified intervention specialist, however, you can ensure that the first step of the recovery process gets handled properly.
The importance of handling the intervention right the first time cannot be stressed enough. When done without preparation or strategy, a poor intervention runs the risk of driving your loved one further into the grip of addiction.
How to Choose an Interventionist
Now, it’s important to accept the fact your loved one’s recovery is ultimately outside of your control. Only they can make that decision for themselves. However, you can ensure that you are providing them with the best resources available to help them break the cycle of addiction. Here are some of the questions you need to ask when looking for the best interventionists:
What Are the Interventionist’s Credentials?
Contrary to what many would expect, the field of professional intervention services is completely unregulated. That means that anyone off the street can start calling themselves a professional interventionist, show up at your door, and provide second-rate help to you and your family. Considering how important the intervention process is to achieving recovery, an unqualified interventionist can end up doing more harm than good.
One way to make sure that the addiction specialist you choose has received training in their field is to verify that they have the proper credentials and are fully insured. Hiring an interventionist with the Certified Intervention Professional (CIP) credential ensures that you are working with someone who has:
- At least one year of supervised experience as a Professional Recovery Coach.
- 25 hours of training as an Intervention Professional from an IAAP-approved educational institution
- Received a passing score on the ICIP exam within four years of the application.
Is the Interventionist Experienced?
Many concerned family members will seek help with drug and alcohol interventions from their doctor or therapist without realizing that these professionals usually have no experience in such matters. Remember, interventions are about much more than simply confronting the addict about problematic behaviors.
Experienced interventionists understand that their job is not just to perform an addiction intervention, but rather a family intervention. An intuitive understanding of the complex relationships that form within a family doesn’t develop overnight, but it’s the key to identifying and correcting the abusive or enabling behaviors that are often the root cause of addiction.
The fact that nearly half of those suffering from a substance use disorder also suffer from a co-occurring mental, behavioral or emotional disorder should highlight the importance of experience when hiring an interventionist. No two cases of addictions are alike, so it only makes sense to seek help from a professional with the experience needed to adapt his or her approach to the unique needs of each client.
Will the Interventionist Be in It for the Long Haul?
It is imperative for family members to understand that the intervention is only the first step of the journey from addiction to lifelong recovery. For this reason, it is important to seek intervention help from people who will stand by you and your loved one every step of the way.
From the initial intervention to detox, rehab and aftercare, your professional interventionist should help your family devise a complete plan of attack aimed at overcoming drug or alcohol addiction for good.
At this point, you might assume that hiring a local intervention professional is your best bet for receiving ongoing assistance. However, just because an interventionist is based in and familiar with your area doesn’t mean that they will be as invested and involved in the recovery of your loved one as you are.
Choosing the closest interventionist often means a significant decrease in quality. Our team of experienced intervention professionals at Intervention Helpline will travel to any city or state in the country to ensure that local interventions are done right, and we’ll continue to work closely with you and your family throughout the entire recovery process.
Does the Interventionist Place the Family’s Needs First?
Many unscrupulous individuals have a vested interest in recommending treatment options for reasons other than quality and effectiveness. Perhaps they are employees of a particular addiction treatment facility, or maybe they receive a finder’s fee when referring their clients to other addiction treatment professionals.
If you are planning a heroin intervention for a struggling son or daughter, for instance, the last thing you should be worried about is whether the interventionist you hired is prioritizing his or her bottom line over the well-being of your loved one.
Intervention Helpline is a completely independent organization, unaffiliated with any treatment center, so when we devise a course of treatment for the addict in your life, you can rest assured knowing that total recovery is our only motivation.
Intervention Helpline Can Heal Your Family
The professional interventionists at Intervention Helpline truly care about the families that we work with. For us, helping people overcome addiction isn’t just business; it’s personal.
Reach out to a member of our team and discover how Intervention Helpline can begin healing your family today.
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