The idea that no one can help an addicted  person until he/she hits rock bottom” is a notion that appears to have been around since man learned how to ferment beer. The origin of the phrase is a mystery, but its strength is enduring. One would suspect that the author must have been a concerned person who hit bottom trying a single handed invention on an addicted person. If you have tried to drug intervention or alcohol intervention alone, then you will undoubtedly understand the author’s frustration and insistence that addicted  people can not be helped until they have crashed and have nothing to lose.

Despite the growing acceptance of proven drug intervention and alcohol intervention strategies many thousands of addicted  people continue their free fall to the bottom because they are believed to be helpless. It is expected that once the sufficient amount of pain which accompanies an addictive process  has been experienced, the user will have a spontaneous moment of clarity and personal motivation. The reality is that many will die because they can not see or feel what those around them have known for some time.

Without the benefit of a structured intervention by a caring and well trained intervention team, many victims of addictive disorders and their loved ones will be deprived the joy of sober living.

While it is true that no one can force another person to get or stay sober, it is not true that nothing can be done to stop the addicted  person's free fall to the bottom. The near death bottom is believed by many to be the dues that the chemically dependent person must pay for their freedom from bondage. The vast majority of addicted people will die without ever having established a "sober" life style.

The addicted person is seen by those around him/her to be in absolute control. Nothing could be further from the truth! The addicted person might be able to keep others from getting "inside," but they are not in control of themselves.

Many want to get "out" and can not. In most cases, the addicted person has lost control to the mood altering chemicals or obsessive behaviors that once brought them freedom from the burden of living.

Many family and friends of addicted people have come to us for intervention training convinced that they have no power to help their loved one to see the truth.

While it is true that the dependent person is the master of manipulation and a brilliant escape artist, a well trained team of caring people can "get through" where individual efforts have failed. Intervention training could make a difference for your family.

The following goals are appropriate expectations for a drug intervention or an alcohol intervention:

• Help the addictive person see the truth about the consequences of his/her use of mood altering substances or mood altering behaviors and accept help.
• Help the individual team members to develop strategies for living that serve to empower them to make changes in their lives that free them from the web created by addictive disorders.

Course Overview

Intervention Training course requires a minimum of  7 hours and covers the following issues:

• Goals of Intervention Training
• Film: Back to Reality
• Progressive Nature of Substance Dependency
• The Disease Concept of Alcoholism and other Forms of Substance Dependency
• Abuse Vs. Dependency
• Stages of Progress in Substance Dependency
• Preliminary Assessment
• Substance Dependency Preliminary Screening Survey
• Obstacles to Early Intervention
• Film: Enabling/Masking Reality
• Intervention Training Components
• List of Concerns
• Commitment of Support
• My Plan for Personal Recovery
• List of Consequences
• Structuring the Intervention Training
• Film: Intervention: Facing Reality
• Construction & Team Review of Intervention Letters
• Dress Rehearsal