Every once in a while I get the call to lead an intervention where the circumstances point to what appears to be a relatively easy case. One such intervention occured recently.

The intervention call came from a father who reported that his 21 year old son was drinking and using meth. This behavior had been going on for several years. The family had tried to convince him to go to treatment, but all requests fell on deaf ears. The addict held tight to his addiction and the disease progressed. The addict managed to accumulate legal problems (DUI) and couldn’t hold down a job. Despite the obvious tailspin, the addict maintained that he did not have a substance abuse problem, but said he’d cut down on his usage and would even consider going to some AA meetings. These of course were empty promises and never occured. Things just got worse (for the addict and the family as they typically do).

When I got the call from the father, I learned that the addict was not employed, was not going to school and lived at home. He was not married, no girlfriend, and had no children. He had almost no financial responsibilities since the parents took care of his nominal expenses, and any spare money he needed he received from his parents. Naturally, money received from his parents went directly to his addiction.

The father indicated that the family was ready to participate in the intervention and was prepared to gather 9 strong family members and friends to appear at the intervention. The intervention team was represented by people who deeply cared about the addict, had firsthand knowledge of his addiction and whom the addict had intense respect for.

As far as treatment was concerned, the family had sufficient resources to afford treatment for 90 days at an excellent facility. Financial resources for treatment often throw a wrench into the intervention process, but no such issue existed in this case. Money for treatment was not an issue.

In analyzing this case, it appeared to be a “no-brainer”. How could this man refuse treatment? Everything seemed to be firing on all cylinders.

Even though circumstances in this case lent itself to a much easier than normal intervention, I’ve been in this business long enough to know that each case, no matter how many factors point to a quick and relatively easy resolution, must be planned and prepared as though it could be the worst.  And we (the intervention team) did just that.  In our pre intervention meeting we planned laboriously for every reasonable and unreasonable anticipatedobjection to treatment that we could think of.  And thank God we did.

Even though to a reasonable mind there was simply no reason for him not to go, his disease showed up at the intervention ready to fight and protect its existence.  The battle lines were drawn and the addict put up significant resistance.  Fortunately, the pre intervention meeting positioned the team to anticipate his struggle, and ultimately the addict agreed to treatment.  More importantly, it was done with respect and without the need to hammer down with consequences.

This intervention was illustrative of just how important the preparation phase of the intervention is.  Every case, no matter how easy it may seem, must be thouroughly prepared for.  There is simply too much at stake to deny such preparation.