Alaska Drug Interventions

Some families who have an addicted loved one feel that they need to wait until that person has “hit bottom” before they do something to intervene. This is not an effective way to deal with the addiction. The longer a family waits to take action, the more entrenched the addiction becomes. An Alaska interventionist can offer help and support to families who may unknowingly be enabling their addicted loved one.

How Enabling Behaviors Start in the Family

Enabling behavior in the family of an addict starts with the addicted person. They influence the behavior of the rest of the family, such as instilling feelings of:

• Guilt

Addicts are very good at deflecting blame from themselves onto everyone and everything else. They teach their families that anything that is going wrong in their life is due to something outside of themselves. Family members feel guilty and are likely to become enablers.

• Hope

The addict puts out hope that they will deal with their addiction on their own. The family then waits for them to put the plan into effect or hopes that some outside event, such as finding a job or meeting the right partner will somehow spur the addict into wanting to get help. Instead, the addict continues to do nothing.

• Fear

An addict may use fear to get their family to start using enabling behaviors. They may tell their family members that if they try to set boundaries or try to make the addict go to a rehab center, they will leave and never speak to them again. At that point, the family gives in and continues the enabling behavior.

Consult an Alaska Drug Interventionist for Help

When a family consults with an Alaska drug interventionist about scheduling an intervention for their addicted loved one, part of the discussion is about enabling behaviors. The interventionist gets to know the family and the relationship each person has with their addicted loved one.

If the intervention is going to be successful, the cycle of enabling has to stop. The family needs to adopt new behaviors and stick to them, whether their loved one decides to get help or not. Unless an addict feels uncomfortable, they won’t move toward getting help for their drug addiction.

The Alaska drug interventionist can provide help and support to families with an addicted loved one. The family needs to do their part in making changes that will help the addict move toward the help they need.