An Interview with Board Certified Interventionist Roger Canevari

By Meghan Vivo

If someone doesn’t want help for their addiction, there’s nothing anyone can do. This is a myth that has been debunked by decades of successful interventions. A group of caring friends and family can “raise the bottom,” helping an addict recognize the seriousness of their drug problem and find the strength to recover – even if they don’t fully buy into the process at first.

Addiction interventions have saved millions of lives in the past 50 years, and they are becoming even more effective as our knowledge of addiction grows. Roger Canevari, a board certified interventionist with more than 25 years of experience in the field of addiction and owner of Recovery Found, notes a few key ways the modern addiction intervention differs from interventions of the past.

A Loving, Respectful Approach

Early on, interventions were viewed as opportunities to vent long-held resentments and to blame and shame an addict into getting help. In the past two decades, addiction interventions have evolved into a respectful expression of love and concern, explains Canevari. Rather than condemning the addict, family, friends and co-workers respond with compassion and an understanding of the impact addiction has had on the individual’s ability to make healthy decisions.

“Our role as professional interventionists is to guide the intervention on a loving and respectful course,” says Canevari. “We encourage the family to make decisions based on what they are emotionally and physically capable of following through on, and then express themselves in a healthy way.”

Not Just About Drugs

In the past, experts assessed the need for an intervention based on the type of drug being used and the extent of abuse. Now, it is just as important, if not more so, to evaluate how the addictive behaviors have impacted the individual’s quality of life.

“Drug use is a symptom of an underlying problem,” Canevari explains. “If we focus on the drug, the individual comes out of rehab and uses a different drug or a compulsive behavior like gambling or sex. The intervention has to delve beneath the drug use into the real issues.”

Entering drug rehab is not something that is forced upon the addict, but rather a decision they are actively involved in. If the addict is reluctant to get treatment, Canevari presents more than one drug rehab center to choose from and asks that the addict at least tour the facility to see what they’re saying no to.

One Size Doesn’t Fit All

After decades of research, we know that addiction treatment is most effective when it is tailored to the needs of each individual. The same is true for addiction interventions. While the structure of interventions has largely remained the same over the past 20 years, according to Canevari, the modern approach is flexible enough to meet clients wherever they are.

Canevari doesn’t routinely recommend a particular drug rehabilitation center for every client, but rather works with the family to understand the type of care that would be most effective for the individual. The intervention participants and the individual struggling with addiction then make the final decisions.

“Intervention should be a very individualized and creative process,” says Canevari. “We do not use generic models or a cookie cutter mold; we design a specific plan to meet each patient and family’s needs.”

A Long-Term Process

Despite becoming more widely available, most people’s knowledge of addiction interventions is limited to television portrayals on shows like A&E’s Intervention.

“Television shows highlight one moment in time, but an intervention is so much more than that,” explains Canevari.

The intervention is only the first step. Addiction recovery is a lifelong process, which is why interventionists like Canevari are focused on the long-term success of their clients.

In addition to guiding the intervention, Canevari educates his patients about relapse prevention and remains involved throughout the treatment process. He serves as a liaison between the drug rehab center and the family to help facilitate a smooth transition from treatment to daily life back at home.

The Critical Role of Family

Traditionally, interventions have been designed with one purpose in mind: getting the addict into treatment. For Canevari, the primary goal is making changes within the family system, which typically has the effect of convincing the addict to enter drug rehab.

“What we’re really doing is teaching the family how to do an intervention,” Canevari explains. “It is critical that the message comes not just from a professional but also from the people the addict cares about most.”

Canevari recommends that the family stay involved throughout the process, from beginning to end. When the intervention ends, the family doesn’t put their loved one on a plane and go back to life as usual. Instead, Canevari recommends that they accompany the interventionist and the addict during the admissions process, spend the first few nights in a hotel near the drug rehab, and actively participate in the center’s family program. Not only does family involvement increase the likelihood that the addict will complete treatment, but it also helps the entire family begin to heal.

“It is very helpful for the family to physically see the facility and make a connection with the staff for a smooth admission and treatment stay,” says Canevari, who was rescued from addiction by a life-saving family intervention in 1983. “In the most successful addiction interventions, the addict doesn’t feel like they’re being tossed away. The family’s message is, ‘It’s not just about you, it’s about all of us.’”

A Growing Field

When Canevari first started conducting addiction interventions nearly 20 years ago, he was part of small group of specialists doing this work. Since then, thousands of interventionists have joined the ranks.

When choosing a professional interventionist, Canevari advises families to find someone who is board certified and highly experienced, and to interview more than one to determine if their philosophy is a match. A professional intervention is one of the most effective ways for addicts and their loved ones to begin the healing process, but it requires experience and know-how to ensure that it is done right.

Since 1995, Canevari has conducted interventions throughout the U.S. and South America with a 97% success rate of getting addicts into treatment. He has more than 25 years of experience as a nationally certified alcohol and drug counselor and board certified family interventionist. Although he is not affiliated with any particular drug treatment center, Canevari works closely with some of the best drug rehab centers in the world, including Promises in Malibu, California.

“I consider it a privilege to guide others into recovery just as I was guided over 25 years ago,” says Canevari. “For me, an addiction intervention is not a confrontation but a celebration of life in recovery. By taking away some of the shame, fear and denial surrounding addiction, we can create a window of opportunity where one may never have existed.”

Positive Peer Pressure

A new study suggests attitudes among students in England may be pushing peer pressure in another direction. In a survey conducted by the NHS and published in late July, there is evidence that students are not impressed when their peers use alcohol, and in fact, may look down upon the behavior.

The survey’s results also indicate that fewer school-aged kids are using alcohol, cigarettes and drugs.

The NHS Information Centre report details information from a 2010 survey conducted among young people in England, asking them to answer questions about smoking, drinking and drug use. The results showed a decline in three major areas.

Among 11- to 15-year-olds, there was a decline from 46 percent to 32 percent of students who believed it was okay for a peer to drink alcohol once per week between 2003 and 2010. In addition, 11 percent of students surveyed in 2010 believed it was okay to get drunk once per week, compared with 20 percent in 2003.

Why Do Teens Drink?

In the 2010 survey, there were 7,300 participants who were surveyed between September and December of 2010. In the most recent survey, a new set of questions was introduced that assessed attitudes about the drinking behaviors of peers. Students were given multiple choice questions.

The most popular reasons provided for why peers drank were "to look cool in front of friends" (76 percent); "to be more sociable with friends" (65 percent); "peer pressure from friends" (62 percent); and "for the buzz" (60 percent).

The researchers noted a significant difference in responses between students who drank and those who did not. For those who drank alcohol within a week before the survey, their most popular reasons offered for why peers drank were "for the rush or buzz" and "to be more sociable." Those who did not drink were more likely to choose "to look cool in front of friends" or "pressure from their friends."

The number of students who had tried alcohol had declined significantly, from 51 percent in 2009 to 45 percent in 2010. This reflects a continuation of a steady decrease. In 2003, 61 percent of school-aged kids had tried alcohol.

The study examined boys and girls in the U.K. and smaller samples in the United States and on subjects that were younger as well. Studies showed a variety of results from the amount the person was likely to consume to achieve their desired result to peer influences. For some, the LR factor encourages coping with life’s problems. The entire procedure uncovered evidence regarding an individuals’ propensity for heavy drinking, thus increasing their risk for problems with alcohol.

Schuckit says the question remains as to why some adolescents drink more than others and that the low level of response is almost 60 percent genetic makeup. When you compare other countries and the way their drinking habits and differences in culture impact the use of alcohol, results can be of less importance in their culture or environment but the biological factors, such as metabolic factors and absorption of alcohol, should have consistent results across all cultures. There may be factors that are especially important such as religious or political viewpoints that affect your likelihood for alcoholism or that cause you to become more susceptible to drinking heavily.

Doctors continue to investigate these cross-cultural studies and that will help them solve the mystery of genetic influences among heavy drinkers.

The University of Otago study led by Professor Jennie Connor of the Department of Preventive and Social Medicine included 1900 subjects ranging in age from 18-70. The subject group was considered representative of the general population.

The study reports a definite link between episodes of binge drinking and instances of domestic/partner aggression. Since it is well documented that alcohol intake is directly related to increases in aggression the study may at first glance appear redundant. However, this is the first study in New Zealand which examined the impact of binging on violence within the home. The study gives data to back up what might have been feared – namely that alcohol inflames instances of domestic aggression even in the most average New Zealand families.

According to the study, it is twice as likely that a couple will experience physical aggression when even one of the partners binges at least once a month. The study intentionally included all levels of aggression and not only the most egregious since violence among partners has a tendency to begin small and progressively escalate. The partner who binges monthly is twice as likely to be the aggressor and three times as likely to be the victim when compared to non-binging people the study said.

Also worthy of note was the report’s findings concerning the differences in how men and women experience instances of domestic violence or partnership aggression. Interestingly, female to male aggression was reported more often (15%) than instances of male to female aggression (12%). Nevertheless, women’s experience of partner aggression was more severe, more angry and involved higher degrees of fear than that experienced by men.

Those findings square with the day-in day-out anecdotal experience of Dunedin police Sergeant Jan Craig who told reporters that fully one half of family violence cases there involve the use of drugs or alcohol with men most often acting as the aggressor.

The study reveals that while both sexes may become more aggressive as a result of over-drinking, women are at greater risk in such situations. It provides data proving that people who drink heavily become more aggressive even if they would not normally be so apart from alcohol. The study clearly indicates that when a pattern of binge drinking exists, instances of physical aggression increase.

Those who intervene in family violence cases, such as police and substance abuse service providers, attest to the dangers of drinking but are quick to point out that over-drinking does not excuse aggressive behavior. Those who see the wreckage binge drinking can bring into a home say that making alcohol more costly, less available and less widely promoted could prove important steps toward the prevention of domestic violence.

Researchers are still in the process of examining all of the more long-term ways that children are affected by their parents’ drinking habits. New research specifically looks at relationships and how they are impacted by earlier experiences of having had an alcoholic parent.

Kearns-Bodkin and Leonard completed a study in 2008 that examined the effects of both maternal and paternal alcoholism on marriage relationships, looking particularly at the first four years of marriage.

There were 634 couples that participated in the study. The participants were given assessments at the time of their marriage and then again at their first, second, and fourth anniversary dates. The husbands and wives completed questionnaires separately in their homes, and the questionnaires were self-administered.

The results of the study indicate that for both husbands and wives, the perceptions of their marriage relationship was associated with alcoholism in the opposite gender parent.

For example, if a wife had a father who has an alcoholic, there was an associated lower marital satisfaction experienced in the first for years of marriage. For husbands, an alcoholic mother was associated with lower marital satisfaction in early marriage.

Physical aggression in the marriage relationship was also associated with alcoholic parents. Husbands’ physical aggression was impacted by alcoholism in the mother and father, but high levels of physical aggression were associated with alcoholic mothers and nonalcoholic fathers.

Additionally, the study found that wives who experienced high levels of physical aggression from their husbands were largely from a background with an alcoholic mother and nonalcoholic father.

Wives also indicated that they engaged in high levels of physical aggression when they had an alcoholic mother and a nonalcoholic father, but this association was limited to early years of marriage.

The results of the study also find that the husbands’ and wives’ attachment representations were linked with parental alcoholism.

The results of this study provide important information for educating parents about the long-term risks of alcohol abuse. Not only are they impacting their children in immediate ways, but alcoholic parents are also impacting their children’s future marital relationships.

The study also may benefit the adult children of alcoholics in seeking assistance or counseling for marital difficulties. Linking some areas of marital conflict to patterns of behavior in their parents may make identifying problems and solutions more possible.

MSNBC reports that in a survey of more than 17,000 adults, researchers found that individuals who had been exposed to six or more adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) before the age of 18 were twice as likely to die prematurely as those who hadn’t suffered those experiences.

The results, which will be published in the November issue of the American Journal of Preventative Medicine, arrive shortly after a recent study linked childhood spanking with lower IQs.

"Our hope is that, as a result of this research, child maltreatment and exposure to childhood traumatic stress in its various forms will be more widely recognized as a public health problem," said study researcher David Brown, an epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. "It is important to understand that consequences to childhood trauma can extend over an individual’s life."

Brown and his colleagues reviewed data from individuals who had visited a Kaiser Permanente clinic in San Diego between 1995 and 1997 and had completed a questionnaire about their childhood. The team followed participants through 2006, using the National Death Index to determine who had died.

In the survey questions, participants had to indicate which, if any, adverse experiences they had endured, including: undergoing verbal or physical abuse, having a battered mother and witnessing domestic violence, living in a household with substance abuse or mental illness, having an incarcerated household member, or having parents who separated or divorced.

The researchers found that two-thirds of study participants reported at least one such adverse childhood experience. And on average, those reporting six or more ACEs died at age 60, compared with low-risk children (no ACEs) who lived to age 79.

The researchers linked some of this increased risk of premature death to conditions (and behaviors) that have been associated with ACEs in past research, including heart disease and stroke, smoking and alcohol abuse, depression, and general health and social problems, among others.

Brown notes that he can’t say whether the childhood stressors actually cause premature deaths, as causation is always difficult to establish with a single study. However, as prior research has linked ACEs and health problems, he thinks the new results suggest that an accumulation of ACEs can cause premature death (compared with individuals with no ACEs).

"The central message of the publications from the ACE study is that our children are confronted with a terrible burden of stressors that negatively affects their neurodevelopment, which leads to health problems and diseases throughout the lifespan," Brown told MSNBC’s LiveScience. "As a consequence, these stressors may cause them to die younger."

The strange person welcomes you, invites you to sit down. You’re not liking this whole scenario one bit, but you sit anyway. There’s a kind of eerie calm in the room, except for your own jitters and uneasiness. Your mom, dad, brothers and sisters, your fishing buddy, the guy you work next to and your boss (god, your boss!) all have pads of paper or a folded letter in their laps. Some smile, a little anxiously, it seems to you. Your mom looks like she’s been crying. Your dad just looks stoic, like he’s having a tooth pulled. Whatever this is, it must be something really bad.

You want to get out of the room already, and all you’ve heard so far is the welcome by the stranger. What you really want, though, is a drink, a smoke, to do a line – to escape. You’re half out of your chair when the stranger introduces himself or herself and says they’re an interventionist. The purpose of this meeting is to encourage you to get help with your addiction. Everyone here wants to support you through the decision to go into treatment…

Oh, no, you’re not buying this. No way. You stand up, balling your fists. You’re in firm denial mode. “I don’t have a problem. I
can quit anytime. I don’t need any help. I want you all to leave.”

But the stranger continues in an even, reassuring tone, saying that these are the people who love you and care about you. All they want is the best for you. They have something they’d like to say to you. Will you at least listen? Give them a chance to express what’s on their minds? That couldn’t hurt, could it?

No, you admit. You’ll listen, but you’re not going into treatment, period.

One by one, they start to read what’s written on their pieces of paper. Some of it’s pretty tough to hear and it tears your guts out. But you listen. Some of those gathered can’t contain themselves and break down sobbing, your mom among them. You can’t stand seeing her cry, but you hold yourself back from saying or doing anything. In fact, you feel as if you’re frozen. Maybe if they just get it over with, you can breathe. Once they’re done, they can all leave and you’ll be fine. You can almost taste the drink. You need the drink. It’s only a matter of time, now, since the last one is picking up their letter. But it’s your boss. He looks at you before he starts to read, and you feel a sinking in the pit of your gut that this time there might just be some serious consequences for your actions.

When he finishes, there’s dead silence in the room. Except for the throbbing in your own head that sounds like a drum beating. Now, what? The interventionist starts talking again, asking you if you heard what these people had to say. You nod, not saying anything. Then the statement comes: “We’re here to offer you a chance to start over. Beginning today, you can start your new life. Are you willing to take it?”

Now you do get up. You scream, maybe a few obscenities, maybe not, on account of your mom. You stride out of the room and go into the kitchen, looking for your bottle. Your dad comes after you. “Now, son, please come back into the living room. We’re not here to fight you. We love you. Will you please come back in?” After a few minutes, during which he won’t allow you to grab the bottle, you decide you’ll rejoin the group. “But I’m not going to any rehab!”

Back with the others, there’s more talk from the family members and friends, yada, yada, yada. Same as before. Why don’t they stop already? What seems like an eternity has only been about 45 minutes. Clearly nobody has any intention of leaving. You argue and promise you’ll quit on your own, that you don’t need to go someplace to have a bunch of strangers in your business.

“That hasn’t worked before, has it?” the interventionist asks. “How many times have you told yourself that?”

Got a point there. Still, you argue how you can’t afford to take the time off work. Oops, shouldn’t have said that. You remember how your boss said your work performance had suffered and how he wouldn’t tolerate it anymore unless you got help. Can’t afford it, you mumble. The interventionist chimes in that everything’s been taken care of. You don’t even hear half of what’s said next, something about insurance, sliding pay scale, scholarship or financial aid. The point is that it’s covered, more or less.
You run out of arguments. You’re suddenly very tired, wanting all this to go away like a bad dream. This isn’t anything you asked for, nothing you’d ever do on your own. Finally, with a voice that seems like it creeps up out of your shoes, you say you’ll do it.

You mom and dad clasp each other’s hand and then everybody jumps up and races toward you, shaking your hand, giving you a hug. All this fuss!

You didn’t want the intervention, but you got it anyway. In no time flat, you’re in a car being whisked away to a treatment center.
Everybody stands at the curb to wave good-bye. Now, it’s just you and the interventionist alone in the car with the driver. You may go over a few of the things that are going to happen next with the interventionist, but mostly you just sit alone with your thoughts. Most of those thoughts involve how and when you can get your next drink, smoke or fix.

What are your choices now that the intervention is over?

What You Do Next Decides Your Future

The above scenario may or may not fit your particular situation – or that of a loved one you’re planning to do an intervention for –
but it is fairly typical. A person doesn’t have to want to go into treatment for it to be effective – although that’s the optimal mindset going into rehab. Sometimes it takes the combined encouragement and support of people who love and care about you to get you to do what you’d never do on your own. It just happened to be through an intervention. It doesn’t matter, therefore, if you agree with their motives or like what’s about to happen. It does matter what you do next. Here are several outcomes:

• Accept the help – Recognize that you do need help and take advantage of it. Go into detox and get clean, then move on to the treatment phase. You will learn the underlying reasons why you first started drinking and/or using drugs, typical stresses and triggers that precipitate drinking and using, coping skills and techniques to help you steer clear of the triggers that cause you to drink and/or do drugs. Through behavior modification and other innovative treatment protocols, you will be able to restructure your behavior to enable you to live free of alcohol and drugs. You do need to stick with the program all the way through, though, to give yourself a fighting chance at a successful recovery.

• Just try it for a while – You might tell yourself that you’ll go along with the deal for a little bit, but you’re not totally invested in sticking around for however long they think you’ll be there. In fact, you’re already making plans to get out of the center as soon as it looks like you can leave.

• Detox only – You’ve wanted to kick the booze, pills and drugs for a while. This is a good way to do a whole body cleanse. After all, everything’s being taken care of for you. No fuss, no muss is the way you look at it. Once you’re clean, you’re out of there. Forget treatment, don’t need it. You can take care of yourself. You’ve done okay all this time, haven’t you?

Of the three outcomes, which one do you think will be the most successful at allowing you to remain clean and sober? Did you know that 80 percent of those who only complete detox but fail to go on to treatment suffer a relapse? And, if you don’t even give detox a chance, what do you think the odds are for abstinence. You guessed it: practically zero.

When your loved ones invest the time and effort, obviously painful for all, to stage an intervention, it’s because they sincerely want you to make a clean sweep, to get your life back on track, to experience real love and happiness – maybe for the first time in many months or years or ever. Give yourself the gift of hope. Accept the treatment. Stick with it. Envision a future that has no limits to what you can achieve. It’s all out there waiting for you. Go for it.

Information About Your Loved One’s Treatment

The first step on entering a treatment facility for substance abuse involves a thorough assessment of the individual. This is conducted through an interview which covers the parson’s background, family history, specific substances abused and duration of abuse, and any other issues or problems pertinent to or that may affect treatment. For example, there may be a dual-diagnosis issue, drugs and alcohol, or drugs and mental problems like severe depression or drug-induced psychosis, that will impact the type of treatment recommended.

There will be screening tests to determine the exact substances being abused, since not all patients or clients are entirely truthful about their actual drug use, either through selective thinking, or impaired thought processes. The counselors will then develop a recommended treatment plan based on all the information received. The purpose of the plan is to help the individual on a path to getting clean and sober – and remaining there.

You will be advised of the specifics of the treatment plan for your loved one. Detoxification will be the first step, since no treatment can proceed until the client is clean from drugs. Treatment begins following detoxification, and will involve a multi-faceted approach: individual counseling, group meetings, educational lectures, social and recreational activities, family treatment and relapse prevention, among others. The patient will learn to recognize triggers that caused them to use drugs in the past and develop coping skills to deal with difficult situations. They will learn more appropriate behaviors and how to control their emotions, how to be responsible, honest and drug-free members of society.

The length of time your loved one will need to stay in treatment will vary. There is no set timeframe, as each individual’s treatment plan is based on their own unique circumstances and drug usage. Someone who has only recently begun drug use will potentially need less time to kick drugs than an individual who has been abusing drugs for years. The longer the individual stays in the recommended treatment program, the better their chances for success. If a patient leaves after three months, they won’t be as successful in remaining clean and sober as one that stays six months or a year. Again, the length of time depends on how severe the drug problem is, and how long it has lasted, as well as any dual diagnoses or other co-occuring problems that must also be treated.

Counseling And Advice For Families

Through individual appointments with family members, you will receive counseling on how to best help support your family member in treatment – both during treatment and in recovery. You will learn all the aspects of drug addiction, type of drugs used, what they do to a person physically, mentally and emotionally. You will be counseled that the drug abuse didn’t happen overnight, and it will take time to change. When you speak with your loved one, he or she may sound so much better, and you wonder why they can’t come home yet. It can be very frustrating to wait, but it is in the best interest of the patient to complete the treatment regimen. The changes that the substance abuser needs to make will take time to stick, so that they become routine, second nature when they leave treatment.

Many things at home will also need to change upon the patient’s return. The family will be advised and counseled on the best ways to approach these changes. You will also be encouraged to attend group meetings in addition to the individual counseling sessions. There may also be large group meetings with all patients and family members. Discussion groups, educational lectures and other family activities may be part of family treatment.

How Families Can Help The Loved One

In order for treatment to be most effective, family members are strongly encouraged to actively help by doing the following:

• Changes at Home – It is vital that the counselors be apprised of any changes at home, whether that is a major crisis or even a minor development. That’s because what happens at home within the family has a big impact on the person in treatment – even small details are important. Also, keep the facility informed as to how things go during home visits, if that is permitted in your loved one’s treatment program. This assists the counselors to help the patient learn how to deal with the stresses and issues at home, stay in treatment and avoid potential relapse when in recovery.

• Rules – Your loved one has to abide by rules when in treatment. Family members can help him or her by also adhering to the rules and structure of the treatment process. Breaking them sends a confusing message to the patient about why these rules aren’t being followed at home. For example, no addictive behavior can occur at home – no alcohol, no drugs, etc.

• Relapse Warning – As the family, you are the front-line advisors if relapse seems imminent when your loved one returns home. Advise the treatment facility immediately so that steps can be taken to avert total relapse or get the individual back into treatment as quickly as possible.

• Express Concern – Your support and encouragement is critical to your loved one’s staying in treatment. By expressing your encouragement, it shows the level of concern you have over his or her progress toward recovery. It will also help motivate your loved one to stick with the program.

• No Drugs or Alcohol – Family members can help by removing any alcohol or drugs from the premises at home, office, car, shed – any location where the loved one may have occasion to find it. Similarly, no family member should use drugs or alcohol, especially when the loved one is home. They are in an extremely fragile state at this point in time, and cannot handle the temptation and stress that witnessing you drinking or doing drugs will provoke.

• Seek Help For Yourselves – Family recovery necessitates seeking ongoing support. Join and participate in groups providing outstanding support such as Al-Anon meetings. You may also wish to get outside professional counseling to more fully understand and be able to cope with your loved one’s – or your own – issues and problems on addiction and addictive behavior.

• What Motivates Your Loved One – As each substance-dependent individual is unique, each has differing wants and needs. They are motivated by various rewards or consequences for failure to abide by family rules. As the family, you are in the best position to advise the counselors what works with your loved one.

• Be Full Participants – As much as possible, participate in whatever aspect of your loved one’s treatment program. This involves working with the treatment professionals, especially when your loved one starts to voice irritation, complaining about the length or severity or processes of the treatment program. Discuss any concerns you may have after hearing from your loved one by talking with the counselors yourself. Don’t assume the worst. Remember that treatment is tough, and there’s a lot of denial and bad behavior to overcome. Help your loved one to stay in treatment through your unwavering support and encouragement – and full participation.

Understanding That Recovery Is A Life-Long Process

One of the most difficult things to accept is that recovery isn’t a guarantee for any individual who’s been in treatment for substance abuse of any kind. He or she doesn’t just get clean and sober and go through treatment and come home and that’s it forever. No, staying abstinent involves a lifetime commitment, participation in support group meetings, keeping on top of routines and schedules and seeking help when cravings or issues threaten to derail their clean and sober life.

Families need to understand this as well, and continue offering support and encouragement to the loved one in recovery. It won’t be easy, but you don’t have to go it alone. By getting counseling and participating in support group meetings you will be better able to accept and address what needs to be done – to ensure a successful recovery for your loved one and the entire family.

Let’s face it. Going through treatment for drug and alcohol dependence or addiction is a tough process. Not only is it hard on the individual seeking to get clean and sober, but it is also a difficult experience for family members. Addiction in any form affects the entire family. There’s no way any individual can get through treatment and on to recovery without a lot of support. That support comes from counselors, group meetings, friends you meet in treatment and recovery—and family.

But just saying that family is important in drug and alcohol treatment doesn’t begin to cover how critical their involvement is in the addict’s recovery. Here are some of the ways that family plays an integral role in supporting an individual in their goal to get clean and sober.

Catalyst for Change
For some individuals, the recognition that they need treatment, or even being willing to consider it, doesn’t come easy. In fact, this decision is a very difficult one for any person to make, as it involves acknowledging the pain and suffering we’ve caused not only to ourselves, but to those who love us as well.

When a person addicted to alcohol or drugs refuses to recognize or accept treatment, sometimes an intervention is recommended, and families are integral to this process. It is recommended that a professional interventionist is hired to help prepare for and perform the intervention. He or she will educate the family members about their loved one’s addiction, and then will guide family members through the process of approaching their loved one with their concerns.

Family members and friends are encouraged to write letters to their loved one explaining the harm their addiction has caused. The letters will then be read aloud during the actual intervention. During the intervention, with the help of the interventionist, the family seeks to help the addict understand that they have a problem with drugs and/or alcohol, and that treatment is available that can bring them back to a clean and sober life.

Family members must be supportive and loving but firm during this intervention process, and tell the addict how much they want him or her back—without drugs or alcohol. They must also lay out consequences for not seeking treatment, such as not being able to live there or visit anymore.

Family members don’t know how to do this on their own, which is why the interventionist specialist coaches them on how to deal with their addicted family member’s denial and encourage him or her to get into treatment. Overcoming denial is often the biggest hurdle in getting someone to admit they have a problem and commit to entering a treatment program.

How Families are Affected by Addiction
The ripple effects of one person’s addiction extend far beyond that single individual. They encompass the entire family, as well as friends, co-workers, neighbors, and employers. The effects profoundly impact the immediate family, however, as these are the people closest to the substance-dependent person.

A huge part of any effective drug or alcohol abuse treatment program is counseling family members and significant others on the particular needs of their loved one. Think of all the ways the lives of family members interconnect: through daily routines, behaviors, responsibilities, and interactions. When one person is addicted to drugs or alcohol, the healthy family dynamic is disrupted. Family members often try to dismiss or deny the problem as much as the afflicted person does. They may feel embarrassment, anger, shame, pain, and heartbreak over the situation and be unable to deal with it constructively. The fact that they couldn’t stop or control their loved one’s abuse only compounds the problem in their minds.

Many times, family members enter into an unhealthy co-dependency with the abuser. Bribes and attempts to get the abuser to abstain from drugs or alcohol fail as the person continues to use. Covering up the abuse or making excuses to others is also part of co-dependency that has to be dealt with during treatment. That’s because by denying the problem and pretending it doesn’t exist only hampers the possibility that the abuser will ever truly break free of the addiction cycle. It also results in further isolation of the addict/alcoholic and his or her family, and often ends in divorce or abuse.

Other ways family members are affected by addiction include feelings of loss of self-esteem, blame that they may have caused the abuse, stress, depression and anxiety. They may fail to sufficiently take care of their own health and start to neglect their responsibilities to other family members and to their jobs. All of these issues have to be dealt with, or the risk of relapse increases when the addicted individual leaves treatment and returns home.

Types of Family Programs
Whether the affected family member is in treatment or already in recovery, family programs designed to help address critical issues of drug and alcohol dependency may include one or more of the following:

Individual Counseling Sessions with Therapist – Family members may have appointments arranged with the primary therapist on an individual basis.

Family Support Group – This is an ongoing, regularly scheduled (i.e., weekly), and open-ended support group where family members receive support and encouragement and have a safe place in which to share their experiences. Members come and go freely and new members are welcome to join.

Multi-Family Group Support Meetings – A large group meeting, generally once a week (Saturdays, for example), with all patients and their families. The meetings include discussions, films, lectures, experiential exercises, and experience sharing.

Family members are also encouraged to join other support groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous, Al-Anon, Alateen, Narcotics Anonymous, Cocaine Anonymous, and others.

What Family Members Learn
Years of built-up hurt, confusion, and shame can be healed as family members learn about the effects of the disease and any accompanying mental illnesses (in dual-diagnosed patients). They also heal as their own issues are addressed. In addition, family members learn how to best support their troubled family member during recovery from addiction.
The fact that family members participate in family treatment programs has a tremendous impact on the individual undergoing treatment. Often this spurs the individual to enter treatment for drug or alcohol addiction, knowing the support of the family is and will be there for them on an ongoing basis.

Family Treatment Can Make a Big Difference
Some drug and alcohol treatment centers say that 90 percent of the family members want to become involved in the treatment of their loved one. Integration of the family members throughout the individual’s treatment is encouraged at appropriate times. During the initial process of detoxification, the treatment centers reach out to the family members and significant others within 24 to 48 hours, to help them transition to the client’s treatment program.

Aftercare and continuing care programs also involve the family, as sometimes marriages and family relationships are under great strain when the loved one returns home. Referrals are made for the family, either to local therapists or to support group meetings.

Many drug and alcohol treatment facilities offer weekly alumni meetings for current and past clients.

In the end, the best summation of the importance of family in drug and alcohol treatment is that it is essential for the overall success of the dependent individual’s recovery. You can’t send a newly clean and sober individual right back into the maelstrom of an untreated family dynamic. Participation in family programs, in concert with the loved one’s treatment and recovery, can make not only a big difference, but the most important difference.