Addiction Intervention Throughout the U.S.

Behavioral addictions have a severe effect on an individual and the people closest to them, especially the family. Suffering from behavioral addiction may happen at any point during a person's life and is caused by several things, such as genetics, environment, or development. These factors can greatly impact how a person manages feelings of pleasure. Sometimes, these behaviors start innocently. However, if a person faces immense stress in their environment, this could trigger addictive behaviors because they feel good, reach a deep inner desire, and offer intense mental stimulation. These feelings distract the person from what is happening in his or her life, and it becomes a behavior they can't stop. Over time, these behaviors begin to greatly impact everything around the addict, including their jobs, relationships, or income. Eventually, the addict reaches the lowest possible point of their addiction after a tragic event, which is called "hitting rock bottom." If a loved one is in denial about their destructive behavior and before they "hit rock bottom," the team at VIP Recovery recommends reaching out for additional information about staging a behavioral addiction intervention.

Watching a parent, spouse, or child suffer from addiction is extremely heartbreaking and stressful. An intervention can help motivate your loved one to pursue treatment. VIP Recovery will travel throughout the United States to help lead behavioral addiction interventions.

When a loved one suffers from addiction, they become detached from how their behaviors impact everyone around them, and they deny the problem when it's addressed. Addiction is often described as a family disease because it greatly affects the spouse and children. Family members or close friends may notice changes in behaviors that indicate addiction. These behaviors include:

• Hiding the problem
• Uncontrollable urges
• Financial troubles
• Inability to stop
• Changes in appearance
• Increased agitation
• Missing events or work
• Cross addiction with other substances, such as alcohol or drugs

No matter how upsetting, it's important to remember that addiction is a disease. It causes people to act in ways they normally wouldn't, and sometimes the person may want to stop, but it's too overwhelming. Unfortunately, in some cases, it takes a traumatic event to help them see the issue. By communicating how the addict's behaviors impact the family members and setting boundaries or ultimatums, the goal of an intervention is to intervene before the person "hits rock bottom." Based on our own experience, we know firsthand how difficult it is to manage these types of behaviors. The VIP Recovery team will help parents, friends, spouses, and children learn about behaviors and addiction, provide hope, promote healing, and rebuild relationships.

People can be affected by many types of addictions. When the desire to experience a "high" is prioritized above all other things or the person still seeks the behavior despite negative consequences, this indicates the person no longer has control of the situation. Some of the most common types of addiction include:

• Alcohol and drug
• Gambling
• Sex addiction
• Pornography addiction
• Plastic surgery addiction
• Internet or social media addiction
• Shopping addiction
• Video game addiction
• Binge eating or food addictions
• Risky behavior addiction

Planning the intervention

A critical part of staging a successful intervention is the planning that goes into it. Before we meet with your loved one, we will meet with you to develop a strategy for the intervention. This will help us know how to lead the conversation and give us more background on what intervention models might work best. We will also help determine the members of the intervention and teach everyone involved about addiction and behaviors. In cases like addiction, because the family is greatly affected by the behavior, our team might recommend The Systemic Model of intervention or The ARISE Model of intervention. Both of these intervention models help us structure the intervention and the treatment. The models also focus on involving the family with the recovery process so they can help provide support and promote healing. If you would like additional information on planning an intervention or the different intervention models, please click on the page names below:

• Intervention Planning
• The Systemic Model
• The ARISE Model

Staging the intervention

After planning and rehearsing the intervention with the group, everyone involved, including the addict, will meet in a safe location for the intervention. To begin, the VIP Recovery team will start by guiding and leading the conversation. Next, the family members will have an open discussion with their loved one and take turns discussing how the behaviors affect them. This can happen over one session or several sessions. During this time, family members should not yell or discuss examples that do not relate to addictive behavior. We know how emotionally charged this situation is. We will prepare for every possible scenario to ensure the safety of everyone involved in the intervention. If your loved one admits they have a problem, the intervention will end, and we will help safely transport them to a treatment center. If they do not admit the issue, the family will have to maintain strict boundaries or ultimatums to prevent accidentally enabling their loved ones.

No matter the outcome of the intervention, we will be with you at every step. After a successful intervention, the interventionist will take your loved one to the treatment center and help check them in. This will ensure they safely reach the facility. While in treatment, your loved one will attend a detox program, if necessary, then learn how to manage their addiction through different behavioral therapies, stress management, and family group therapy sessions. We will continue to help monitor their success throughout the program.

Unfortunately, an intervention is not always successful. We know how discouraging this feels. If this happens, please do not give up hope! We will continue to guide the family on the next best steps, and hopefully, the loved one will realize the severity of their addiction. To help them realize the issue, one of the most critical things is to maintain the boundaries or ultimatums discussed during the planning phase of the intervention. This prevents the family from accidentally enabling the individual. It also helps your loved one realize how serious their actions impact the family and hopefully motivates them to seek treatment.

Witnessing a family member, spouse, loved one, co-worker, or child suffering from a behavioral addiction is one of the hardest things to experience. It impacts so many areas of their life. It's critical to get your loved one help before they "hit rock bottom" and to intervene before the addiction spirals further out of control. Please take the first step to help your loved one recover and to help your family heal from the impacts of addiction. To make it easier, VIP Recovery can travel throughout the United States to plan and stage an intervention. We invite you to call us and learn more information about interventions.