Drug and Alcohol Intervention

Drug and alcohol intervention programs assist addicts in realizing the extent of their addiction and resolving to overcome the problem through proper treatment. If you know someone who is currently addicted to any kind of harmful drug regardless of its legality, you should learn how to carry out a caring yet direct conversation (or intervention) to help them see how their drug addiction is adversely affecting their own life and the lives of those who love them.

It may surprise you to know that individuals who are addicted to drugs frequently deny or don’t even know that they are addicted. The fact is that drugs can be so powerful in their physiological effects that the minds of those they enslave often lose the willpower or even the ability to recognize and admit that they have a serious problem. Every drug addict needs help, but friends and family members are often afraid to hold a drug use intervention out of fear of offending the addict or other personal reasons. Furthermore, since drug addicts typically surround themselves with other drug addicts, it can be extremely difficult to help them recognize their addiction without pulling them aside in a frank setting and openly conducting an intervention.

By now you’ve probably realized how important it is to intervene quickly to help your addicted loved ones. Here, then, are some common characteristics of an effective drug addiction intervention:

• The intervention focuses on condemning the addiction, not the drug addict. You need to make sure the addict understands that the main reason for the intervention is to help them, not to hurt them.
• A good intervention addresses all aspects of the drug problem and its effects on the addict as well as on his or her family and friends. This will help the drug addict internalize the harmful effects of the addiction.
• In a proper intervention, others try to persuade a drug abuser to seek prompt professional help in overcoming the addiction.

 

As a substance abuser facing drug or alcohol abuse problems, it can be daunting to have to see a drug and alcohol counselor to resolve these problems. Let’s face it, most substance abusers who go to see a counselor do not do so on their own accord.

It may be the parents who enforce the decision, or maybe the judge, school principal, your boss; the list is endless. The bottom line here is that the fact is you are there for reasons known best to you. Most substance abusers do not think that they have a problem, a condition termed as denial.

People who find themselves in this situation are in a dilemma, so to speak. They believe that they shouldn’t be there since they are sure that nothing is wrong with them.

Another thing, they have to be there, it’s not their choice. So how do you deal with this counselor? You tell him nothing’s wrong with you, he doesn’t believe you.

It is said that everything happens for a reason so your best bet is to calm down and cooperate with your counselor.

In order to benefit from a drug and alcohol counselor it is important to consider a few things. One, getting help from the counselor. It is obvious that the counselor’s job is to help people. For substance abusers it generally is one area. Counselors can help abusers with their abuse of alcohol and drugs. They help addicts and abusers look to a future that does not involve the abuse of alcohol and drugs.

The second thing that you should consider is the need to come to an understanding regarding your drug and alcohol counselor. If you yell at your counselor it will do you no good. This will just convince your counselor that you are in serious denial.

On the other hand, if you engage your counselor in a rational conversation, his end conclusion may be much different than the previous scenario. The people who sent you to a counselor might have just been overreacting and maybe you have just a small problem controlling your drinking, who knows? The fact is you will never know until you try.

Aside from providing guidance towards freedom from abuse and looking forward to a drug-free future, counselors may also deal with a client’s possible mental problems and the social situations they are facing. A drug and alcohol counselor can be a great help in lifting the weight off a patients shoulders.

When dealing with the counselor, you may encounter challenges and problems. Despite all being said and done it can be hard to listen or talk to a counselor. In reality, this is the true nature of humans; no one likes to be told what to do. Two of the major challenges patients will face are accepting the advice given and opening up to the drug and alcohol counselor. It is paramount that the patients confide in their counselors and heed their advice to ensure quick recovery and save on time utilized in sessions.