Addiction Recovery
With the lack of boundaries so prevalent on today’s reality TV shows, it is no wonder that the psychological term “intervention” is now in the mainstream word usage. Around the water cooler, people discuss families’ interventions as seen on TV. While this may tempt some to make light of the process, addiction recovery relies on a successful intervention to propel an individual to turn to others for help. Of course, there is more to addiction recovery than simply an intervention. As a matter of fact, there is a lot of therapy, and sometimes even detoxification, required to allow an individual to embark on the road to sobriety.
Yet why is an intervention so important to addiction recovery? Some argue that this process is too painful for a family to undergo, or too embarrassing for the individual in need of help. It is true that an intervention is a drastic measure. What has previously remained the ill-concealed family secret that was laden with euphemisms and characterized by many a relative or friend turning a blind eye to the problem of an individual, and perhaps even covering up for her or him, is now the out in the open subject that is discussed, attacked, and strongly opposed.
A prime example of such a first step to addiction recovery is the family confronting the self destructive behavior of the alcohol addict who previously, with the aid of the family, was able to at least function with his or her addiction. Parents may have bailed him out of jail where he was stuck for a drunken driving charge, a spouse may have sent the kids for the night to a friend’s house when she saw the bottles pile up next to the easy chair, a husband may have called in sick for the wife who was moaning with a massive hang over, or a child may have been precariously teetering on a rickety chair in an attempt to fix a meal when mom just wouldn’t get up off the couch. The intervention says “no more!” and is therefore the first and quite often hardest, step to recovery: it is a facing of the truth that is no longer sugar coated or disguised. If you have a loved one in need of such help, do not put it off for another day!
Disclaimer: Cliff Schaffer does not personally endorse or support any of the comments made within the writings of this article.
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