What Are the Steps to Holding an Intervention?
Many people don’t get the addiction help that they need because they feel a sense of shame or a sense that they somehow failed. This couldn’t be farther from the truth. Getting help is the opposite of shame; it’s strength. A traditional Hawaiian proverb goes, “A’a i ka hula, waiho i ka maka’u i ka hale.” It means that one should dare to dance and should always leave their shame at home. This is also emblematic of what holding an intervention is all about. It is about healing, never shaming.
Healing at the Cellular Level
What does it mean to “heal at the cellular level?” It means that one must heal every aspect of oneself: the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. Everything is intertwined, and thus, everything must be healed simultaneously. For example, one cannot fully heal physically if one is unwell mentally, and vice versa.
Healing at the cellular level is also about finding something outside of oneself that can be relied upon during the recovery process. Yes, for some people, this outside source is God. However, for others who are atheists or agnostics, this outside power can come from many places. Some people choose this power to be nature, and still others choose their power to be other people who have succeeded in their recovery. The key is to understand that one cannot recover on one’s own—help is required.
The Eleventh Step of 12-Step recovery states, “Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.” It is “as we understood him.” So, finding that one anchor that can be relied upon is an open choice, but it can be critical. It is also critical to get to the underlying root/core causes of one’s addiction.
Getting to the Root/Core Causes of Addiction
Many people are under the misconception that addiction is about the drink or the drug themselves. This is not the case (though, of course, putting down the drink or the drug is a crucial first step). Addiction is more about the actions that lead to taking that drink or drug.
These are the subconscious reasons why one chooses to harm themselves with alcohol or substances. In many instances, this is due to underlying trauma or post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD). Many people don’t realize just how prevalent PTSD is. According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), “About 6 out of every 100 people (or 6% of the U.S. population) will have PTSD at some point in their lives.” Also, “About 5 out of every 100 adults (or 5%) in the U.S. has PTSD in any given year. In 2020, about 13 million Americans had PTSD.”
There is a reason why many people say that alcohol use disorder (AUD) is about “thinking” rather than “drinking.” This is because it manifests in the mind rather than the bottle. It is also important to understand that addiction is a complex “disease.”
Better Understanding Addiction
Addiction is more complex than just an issue one has with alcohol or drugs. According to the peer-reviewed journal Alcohol Research & Health, “The terminology used to describe alcohol and other drug (AOD) use disorders (AODUDs) is of key importance to both the study and the clinical care of people suffering from these conditions. AODUDs result from a combination of genetic, environmental, social, and psychological factors. The heterogeneity of addictive disorders is well recognized, with a key dimension of subgroups being the pattern of dependence on multiple substances.”
The key takeaway regarding the understanding of addiction in the current century is that it is a disease. For far too long, addiction was looked at as some moral failing or choice. The individual was stigmatized as someone who was looking to do intentional harm with their actions. It is now widely agreed upon that this is not the case. An individual struggling with addiction is not trying to do harm; they are a sick person who needs to get well.
On the subject of addiction as a disease, it is also important to understand that addiction is also a “family disease.” This means that addiction does not just affect the individual who is struggling but everyone around them. It is often said that addiction is like a tornado that destroys everyone and everything in its path. This is true of all types of addiction, alcohol, substance, and behavioral.
Types of Addiction
There are many different types of addictions. There are substance addictions (including alcohol) and behavioral addictions like gambling addiction, shopping addiction, and online addiction. It is also important to note that many of these addictions can be co-occurring. One of the most prominent substance addictions is opioid use disorder. This is because there remains an opioid epidemic both in the U.S. and around the world.
A big part of this is due to prescription opioids. According to the peer-reviewed journal BMC Health Services Research, “Prescription drug abuse is the fastest growing drug problem in the U.S.; up to 1 in 4 people receiving long-term opioid therapy in a primary care setting can struggle with a moderate to severe opioid use disorder. According to the Centers for Disease Control, important factors responsible for the OUD epidemic include patients receiving more than one prescription from multiple providers or taking very high doses of the medication. These trends were seen in other developed countries [.]” Behavioral addictions (also known as process addictions) are also very prominent in the U.S. and abroad.
The key to understanding behavioral addictions is understanding that they have consequences. According to the International Journal of Preventive Medicine, “At present, researchers emphasize that to make a diagnosis of behavioral addiction, functional impairments must be present at work, in social relationships, or in other social situations. Several experts believe that behavioral addictions can be passive (e.g., television) or active (e.g., computer games) and usually contain inducing and reinforcing features that may contribute to the promotion of addictive tendencies.” These behaviors can also co-exist with mental illness.
Mental Illness and Addiction
Many people who struggle with mental illness also struggle with addiction. It is very common and a big reason why “dual diagnosis” is a major category in the realm of recovery.
Treating everything simultaneously is key to treating co-occurring disorders (or “co-morbidities”). If one aspect (either the addiction or the mental disorder) goes untreated, then the chances of a relapse go up exponentially.
It is also important to understand that many people are under-diagnosed or misdiagnosed because mental health issues and addiction issues can often look the same and mask each other. This is why seeing a specialist who deals with both mental illness and addiction can be vital. It is also important to be able to recognize the signs and symptoms of addiction on one’s own (or as a family member or close friend).
The Signs and Symptoms of Addiction
Now, of course, the signs and symptoms of addiction and/or mental illness are always going to vary based on the individual. However, one can look out for many universal signs and symptoms of addiction and mental illness. The following are just a few of those signs and symptoms:
- Feeling anxious, nervous, or overly “stressed out”
- Not being able to stop once starting drinking or using
- Experiencing trouble at work or school
- Losing interest in activities once enjoyed
- Isolating away from family and close friends
- Loss of appetite and a lack of care regarding physical appearance and wellbeing
- Exhibiting excessive mood swings
- Having trouble with sleep cycles, including sleeping too much and not sleeping enough (hypersomnia and insomnia)
- Experiencing physical ailments such as headaches, body aches, and gastrointestinal problems
- Having feelings of worthlessness, hopelessness, and helplessness
- Causing harm to oneself or others
- Having suicidal ideations
Often, people minimize addiction and/or mental illness or even falsely categorize it as a “choice.” However, as one can see, these signs and symptoms are significant and can even be deadly. This is why reaching out for professional help sooner rather than later is critical. Doing so could mean the difference between short-term side effects and long-term consequences. It is also important to reach out to the right recovery center and, in many instances, the right interventionist.
What Is an Intervention?
So, what exactly is an intervention? An intervention is not a monolith. There are many different types of interventions. The most well-known type is one in which a professional directs family and close friends on how to help their loved one get the help they need.
Many people have seen what these look like. An individual struggling with addiction is surprised to find that their loved ones are waiting to confront them about their issues and how they are hurting those around them. Ultimately, the individual must choose to go to treatment or suffer the consequences of the boundaries outlined in the intervention.
This can be highly effective but can also go wrong if done poorly. That is why it is so important to connect with an intervention professional.
Holding an Intervention: The Importance of Connecting With an Intervention Professional
If an individual is unwilling to get help, an intervention professional can guide and direct the intervention toward a positive outcome and control the situation.
An intervention professional can help the family set essential boundaries for their struggling loved one. These boundaries may feel difficult to implement at first, but it is easier when the family is reminded that these boundaries can mean the difference between life and death.
An intervention professional is also someone who has the proper connections when an individual agrees to go to treatment. They will already be coordinated with a recovery center that will be ready and waiting to receive the individual. These recovery centers are often connected with a safe and secure detox. Here at Exclusive Hawaii Rehab, we are proud to be able to be connected to professional interventionists who work in all 50 states.
Holding an Intervention: What Does an Intervention Look Like With the Family?
The family is often the most affected (besides the individual) by addiction. However, the family also has the greatest chance of doing the most good when it comes to a recovery intervention.
According to the peer-reviewed journal International Scholarly Research Network Addiction (ISRN), “Family interventions have been shown to be the most effective prevention and treatment interventions for adolescent substance abuse and other negative developmental outcomes in efficacy studies with at least two years of longitudinal outcomes. They are also cost-beneficial because the family members learn and practice new skills to improve their interactions to have a long-term sustainable impact on positive youth developmental outcomes. These prevention interventions positively benefit not just the one enrolled child or adolescent, but the whole family – parents, siblings, extended family members living at home, and also caretakers such as foster parents.” Family interventions also help with long-term recovery.
Holding an Intervention: What Happens After?
What happens after is just as important as setting up an intervention or the intervention itself. This primarily concerns what happens at the recovery center during the treatment process.
The key to successful recovery is a multi-angled approach, which means using as many means, methods, and modalities as possible. This includes psychotherapies like cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), experiential therapies like nature immersion and art therapy, and holistic healing methods like yoga and mindfulness meditation. Utilizing recovery groups, communities, and meetings can also be a highly effective component of recovery.
After Holding an Intervention: Recovering With Psychotherapy
Psychotherapy can be a highly effective form of treatment after an intervention because it continues where the intervention left off. It helps an individual see the underlying negative ways that they have long viewed themselves and the world around them.
Once these views are addressed, one can start addressing the negative behaviors associated with them. These are the addictive behaviors that ultimately lead to the drink and/or the drug. Psychotherapy is also highly beneficial because it works well with other modalities. Many people make it the foundation of their treatment plan.
After Holding an Intervention: Recovery Groups and Meetings
It is important to understand that one cannot recover on their own. As is often said, “It takes a village.” Working with others in recovery is crucial. It gives an individual a sense of purpose and also creates a sober network that one can rely on when times get “triggering.”
A big part of working with others is attending recovery meetings (never a requirement; always a suggestion). These meetings are where one can get together with other people in recovery and bond over the shared experience of active addiction, and active recovery.
Working with others is so critical that it has a chapter named after it in the primary text of 12-Step recovery (also known as the Big Book). The chapter is entitled “Working With Others,” and it states, “Practical experience shows that nothing will so much insure immunity from drinking [and using] as intensive work with other [people in recovery]. It works when other activities fail…. You can help when no one else can.” It is truly recovery via community.
Healing at the Cellular Level With Exclusive Hawaii Rehab
Here at Exclusive Hawaii Rehab, we believe in long-term success over short-term “fixes.” This is why all of our recovery plans are individualized and comprehensive with a focus on the future. We also understand that an intervention is an ideal way to start one’s recovery journey.
In honor of “A’a i ka hula, waiho i ka maka’u i ka hale,” we know that recovery can be scary, but we want it known that daring to dance also means daring to dream. That is what recovery can be all about – regaining one’s dreams. There is perhaps no better place to do that than with us on the Hamakua Coast of Hawaii’s Big Island.
While there is always room for variation, there is a “blueprint” for staging an intervention. The key is to hire a professional interventionist to make the process go as smoothly as possible. The good news is that an effective intervention greatly reduces the chances of a potential relapse. If you feel like you or a loved one is struggling with issues of addiction, mental illness, or co-occurring disorders, we can help get you on the positive path toward long-term recovery right away. You don’t have to go through this process alone. For more information about staging an effective intervention, please reach out to Exclusive Hawaii Rehab today at (808) 775-0200.