Intervention involves creating a plan with the family and working closely with the family is the most important part of any intervention. Successful recovery engages the family to support the individual in a new way, since everything the family has been doing before the intervention has not been effective. We help shift the family’s thinking and create a plan for action. Before the intervention, during the intervention, and after the intervention.
Creating a Plan with the Family
Before an intervention, we spend a lot of time with the family discussing plans, including contingency plans. Usually the simple act of putting a plan into place will offer the family a lot of relief. Prior to planning an intervention, the desire for a loved one to go to rehab was perhaps little more than a wish or a hoped for New Year’s resolution. We help engender change through a solid plan, breaking the cycle of the family’s involvement in the individual’s addiction.
Write It Out
There are many elements to planning the intervention. Together, we put the plan on paper, hammer out the financial aspects, and decide on the right facility for the individual. We’ll talk about all the reasons the individual will give for why they can’t or won’t go to treatment, and we’ll address each concern in the planning stage. When those reasons come up in the intervention itself, the answers are already taken care of. These also include practical concerns, like taking care of the kids and pets. We’ll remove all the barriers to saying yes to treatment.
Post Intervention
After a successful intervention, the work with the family continues. When an individual is in treatment, many questions will come up with the family. I’m always there to answer those questions, which range from worrying about their loved one to practical concerns that have to be addressed in order for the individual to stay in treatment. It’s normal for the person to want to leave treatment, and we’ll make a plan for how the family will handle that call and encourage their loved one to make the healthy choice.
While the individual is in treatment, we work to put plans in place for they discharge. In order for recovery to stick, the affected person can’t return to the exact same situation. So, just as we evaluated treatment centers before the intervention, we’ll evaluate plans for aftercare to support recovery long-term. That will include extended care options, sober living facilities, and intensive outpatient programs.
The intervention itself is crucial, but most of the work of the intervention actually happens after the person has landed at a facility including planning that encourages the person to stay in treatment, and to be supported when they leave.
About Adam Banks
Adam Banks is a certified interventionist and the owner of Adam Banks Recovery. After receiving an MBA from the University of Chicago, Adam built a company acquired by United Health Care. His discipline and attention to detail comes from his former career as an airline pilot, holding an ATP, the FAA’s highest license.
Today, Adam is dedicated to helping others achieve long-term sobriety. His work has guided executives, pilots, and physicians on paths to recovery. Adam brings families together through a loving and inclusive approach.
Adam has authored four books on addiction. His recent work, Navigating Recovery Ground School: 12 Lessons to Help Families Navigate Recovery, educates families on the entire intervention process. He also offers a free video course for families considering an intervention for a loved one.
Adam is available for alcohol and drug intervention services in New York, Long Island, the Hamptons as well as nationally and internationally.
