Featured Articles: How to Stage An Intervention

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An intervention takes place when a group of people confront an alcoholic about his drinking, and insist that he enters treatment immediately after their meeting. Though the process can be stressful, an intervention is, at its core, an expression of compassion. For example, Oprah Winfrey once described an intervention she had participated in as one of the most loving events she had ever experienced. 

Dr. Vernon Johnson came up with the idea of family interventions in the 1960s. His theory was that you cannot wait and watch someone you love slowly kill herself with alcoholism – and that it should not be necessary for the person to “bottom out” before assistance is offered. 

The time to intervene, Dr. Johnson believed, is before the alcoholic individual experiences financial ruin, divorce, jail, or serious health problems such as cirrhosis.  

A second important reason for staging an intervention, Dr. Johnson believed, is that family and friends should not have to endure the stress of living with alcoholism. According to studies by Dr. Max Schneider, an expert on the families of alcoholics, those who live with an alcoholic individual are at increased risk for anxiety, insomnia, suicide, homicide, accidents, depression, gastritis, stroke, and heart disease. 

The old model of intervention always involved an element of surprise. The alcoholic would think she was going to a family event and walk into a room filled with relatives, friends, coworkers, and perhaps even her boss, doctor, and minister. Everyone united into a team to confront her about her drinking.  

Today, many professionals who work in alcoholic rehabilitation are getting away from that model for two reasons:  

• If the alcoholic refuses treatment at the end of the intervention, he becomes more alienated and angry with the people he needs most.  

• If the alcoholic does agree to enter treatment, he goes into it with a hostile attitude that can get in the way of his recovery.  

Therefore, many experts recommend that families either skip the process or hire a professional interventionist. You can get the name of a professional interventionist by calling a local alcohol rehabilitation center. The usual cost runs between $750 and $3500 plus travel expenses. New-style interventions often do not surprise the alcoholic with a sudden confrontation, but rather involve him in the process from the beginning. 

In 2000, Jeff and Debra Jay published a guidebook to family interventions called Love First. They outlined exactly how to assemble an effective intervention team, pick a chairperson, and confront the alcoholic.  

The Jays suggest that the chairperson be an older authority figure that the alcoholic respects, such as an uncle or grandmother, instead of than a spouse or child. This chairperson should assemble a group of between three and eight people, each of whom loves the alcoholic and has been personally affected by his drinking.  

Each member of the intervention team then composes a letter in three parts. The first section is about how much the writer loves the alcoholic and fond memories of their lives together. The second section lists specific moments in the past year in which the alcoholic caused the writer pain or embarrassment. The last part of the letter expresses concern and asks the alcoholic to enter treatment. The letter should not be more than two double-spaced pages. 

The chairperson and her helper handles all the details of the alcoholic’s treatment, including finding a treatment center and setting up an appointment to follow the intervention – but the Jays’ suggestion that the chairperson contacts the alcoholic’s employer and arranges a leave of absence may be a violation of the alcoholic’s rights.  

However, the authors’ concern that the team must anticipate all of the alcoholic’s objections to treatment is valid. Typical ones are “I cannot leave at this time because of a big project at work, because I need to watch my children, because I am in a wedding,” and so on. The group responds in advance to these objections by setting up someone to watch the children, helping the alcoholic secure a leave of absence from his job, and solving any other logistical challenges.  

The team assembles for one rehearsal, and everyone reads their letters aloud. The group improves each letter by removing angry or negative content and making sure the tone remains loving and calm.  

Next, everyone discusses and writes down what they will do if the alcoholic refuses treatment. The Jays call this “the bottom lines,” or the refusals to keep helping the alcoholic maintain his drinking problem. Depending upon the unique circumstances surrounding each intervention, “bottom lines” might include statements such as the following: 

• “If you refuse treatment, I will not allow you to live free at my house.” 

• “If you refuse treatment, I will not make excuses for you at work.” 

• “If you refuse treatment, I will not pay for your legal fees.” 

• “If you refuse treatment, I will seek a divorce.”  

The team meets about an hour before the intervention. Seating is important, as is the order of the letters. When the alcoholic enters the room, the chairperson tells him why they are here and asks each person to read his letter aloud. The team then asks the alcoholic to immediately go to a treatment center.  

In 85 percent of interventions, the alcoholic agrees to enter treatment. If she does not agree, then the group goes into their “bottom lines.” They use whatever leverage they have, even divorce or asking the alcoholic to move out, if necessary. 

The typical scenario is that someone from the team drives the alcoholic to the pre-arranged appointment at a rehabilitation center. Everyone hugs the person good-bye, and hopes that this is indeed the beginning of a new era for everyone. 

BURGE, Sandra. PH.D., and F. DAVID SCHNEIDER, M.D., M.S.P.H. University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio, Texas. “Alcohol Related Problems: Recognition and Intervention,” The American Academy of Family Physicians, see http://www.aafp.org/afp/990115ap/361.html. 

Family Interventions: How They Work, About.com, see http://alcoholism.about.com/cs/info2/a/aa100897.htm 

Jay, Jeff and Debra. Love First. (Center City, Minnesota: Hazelden Educational Services) 2000. 

Jay, Jeff and Debra. “Love First: Interventions for Alcoholics and Their Families,” see http://www.lovefirst.net/.