Drug Intervention in McAllen, TX

If you're worried about someone in the family who is addicted to substance abuse, you've probably thought of using an intervention to reach them. There's something immediately appealing about interventions in such difficult situations, and many people do consider them. Most, however, get them all wrong. An intervention isn't simply about gathering everyone together to talk to the addicted person or browbeat them into agreeing to treatment. Such an approach rarely works. At our center for drug intervention in McAllen, we've seen many such unplanned interventions. More often than not, they merely turn into a free-for-all. They mostly fail.

Where Do Interventions Go Wrong?

If all it took to get through to an addict was for many people to reason with them, addiction would be a very simple disorder to treat. Unfortunately, addiction is a condition unlike anything most people have ever seen. When you head into an intervention expecting to simply argue and win them over, it has to fail. Such informal approaches get several fundamental facts about addiction and interventions wrong.

If you haven't tried to learn about what addictions really are, your intuitive understanding of the condition may connect such behavior to a tendency to irresponsible behavior or a lack of conscience. This isn't the scientific position, however. Medical science views addiction as a mental disorder, one that is caused by chronic exposure to the harmful chemicals present in addictive substances. Frequently, addiction is also caused by pre-existing mental disorders.

When an addict seems to not appreciate the simplest arguments about the necessity of finding a way out, it isn't denial. Instead, it is a well-known effect seen in addictions. Addiction is able to suppress an ability to understand the harm that drugs cause.

Going into an intervention without adequate knowledge of the problem that you wish to speak to the addict about can lead to confrontations and accusatory debates.

In most cases, the depth of knowledge of addiction needed to handle an intervention well can only come from an experienced and qualified professional. At our center for drug intervention in McAllen and other institutions that are run on scientifically designed plans for this reason, families attempting an intervention are offered the services of a professional to help conduct the attempt.

How Can An Intervention Professional Help?

Professionally run interventions succeed 90% of the time. This happens because interventionists help in very specific and important ways.

Building the right group: Bringing the right collection of people in to participate can help make an intervention more successful. Interventionists speak with a number of potential participants — family members, friends, favorite priest, sports coach and so on — to find participants who have the right temperament for an intervention. They look for people who are influential with the addict, calm, logical, cooperative and not highly strung.

Education: Once the right group is in place, the interventionist helps everyone get up to speed with the latest in addiction science. The idea is to make sure that participants see addictions as disorders, and not as a voluntary choice.

Rehearsals: People who have never spoken to an addict or never attempted to reason with addicts about their addiction can have a hard time handling an intervention. Addicts can be manipulative with their arguments, and can easily put anyone who isn't prepared on the defensive. Interventionists offer the group practice and rehearsals in the way to approach the intervention, and prepare them with the kind of replies that may work. Going in prepared can help save the day.

Tough love: When reasoning doesn't work with addicts, tough love often does. If no amount of reasoning appears to work, handing down an ultimatum is often the right way. Having everyone agree to not help the addict with everyday responsibilities can be very effective in some ways. It takes some practice with the tough love approach to get everyone to work together.

Finally, as interventionists are knowledgeable and experienced professionals in the area of addiction, their very presence can lend authenticity to a drug addiction intervention effort. It can be a powerful influence.

A Well-Planned Intervention Can Save a Life

Well-planned interventions usually succeed, which means that they help save the life of the addict. It's important to make the best possible effort. A professionally managed intervention should be the only option, not the option of last resort after everything else has failed. Bringing the addict to our programs for addiction treatment in McAllen isn't any assurance of completion of treatment. The addict's cooperation is always important. The professional approach used by interventionists can often make an impression on the addict that is lasting enough to carry through to the conclusion of all the drug intervention programs needed.

Finding an inpatient drug rehab in McAllen with professional intervention departments can be difficult. Most rehabs aren't run to scientific principles, and do not offer such services. Finding a rehab that offers intervention help is often an excellent way to zero in on a scientifically run center. Our center for drug intervention in McAllen offers a variety of services in this area. If you would like to speak to a professional, you only need to call (877) 804-1531.