Family Matters

                When dealing with the issue of addiction, families often play a key role in the psyche of the addicted mind. Common triggers for addiction include: loss of a family member or friend, absence of family, abuse within the family, or other issues occurring within the familial circle. Though matters pertaining to one’s family can lead to the onset of addiction, the family can also be an integral keystone in the recovery process.

                Post-intervention treatment usually includes group therapies and treatment in a group setting. This is because the throes of addiction are rooted in loneliness, and often the height of substance abuse occurs when the addicted individual is alone. By thrusting a “user” into a community that shares a common goal, teamwork and communal efforts, these efforts become a priority over problematic substances, giving the addicted individual an outlet for all of the emotions that led them down the path of addiction.

                Just as a family or “group” can lead to a successful recovery during treatment, comprising an “intervention family,” or a group of persons dedicated to the healing of the addicted individual, can ensure that the staged intervention will positively affect the recovery process.

                When staging an intervention, it is important to ensure it is done within a loving and caring environment.  Most conducive to a loving and caring environment is the proximal support of family and friends during the initial intervention. Again, the most severe aspects of addiction occur during the absence of family and friends.

                Providing a comforting blanket of caring bodies during the intervention will not only relieve the anxiety that is inherent with an intervention, but also brightens the hope of the person being intervened. Hope is the single-most motivating factor in recovery, and the presence of hope is exponential when more and more persons are involved with the delicate process of an intervention.