Intervention

This is the first step and often where healing begins for the family. The family intervention uses the power of love and concern to break through addiction and denial, to get your loved one into treatment. The keys to a successful intervention are careful planning, preparation and technique.

Often family members think they have tried everything to help their loved one, but in working with a professional interventionist, the family is educated to take an organized approach and present a loving and compassionate solution. 

 Intervention "raises the bottom" for clients, and establishes healthy boundaries for families, loved ones, and employers to live by. 

Patrick has successfully performed hundreds of interventions since being intervened on himself. Patrick treats every intervention as a unique event, helping the family to use love and compassion to disarm the addict, and increase the likelihood they will accept treatment or detox.

The idea that every individual addict or alcoholic must hit bottom in order to get sober, is a common misconception among the general population, and in the addiction treatment industry. Substantial research exists and supports the idea that individuals, who enter treatment for the wrong reasons (external pressures), that their treatment outcomes are roughly equivalent to those who enter treatment for the right reasons( true desire for change). An intervention effectively raises the bottom for the addict, and allows the family to step in before the addict endures the inevitable suffering, damage to their life, and quite possibly death. 

In order to have a successful intervention, it is necessary to identify and discuss two elements; a solution, and a bottom line. 

The solution in most situations, would be treatment or a therapeutic environment where the addict is able to heal and receive the help and support they so desperately need.

A bottom line, is the leverage or firm boundary that the family and interventionist agree to implement and stick to, regardless of what the addict may promise to do.

Occassionally, the individual may have tried treatment previously, or it just isn't an option for a variety of reasons. Patrick will work with the family, and help by designing an alternative plan to fit the needs of the situation.

Addiction is often called a family disease, because it creates varying  levels of anger, resentment and shame, for the whole family, and not just the patient. 

Patrick's role as the professional interventionist is to listen, and help  educate the family on the basics of addiction, the importance of boundaries,  as well as identifying the proper solution, and the means to carry that out.