Common Questions About Family Interventions
How is this "new" model of intervention different from the "old" model?
Intervention is a concept that has been around as long as people have wanted other people to change. Therapeutic intervention with alcoholism has been around for about 30 years; the basic approach was designed by Dr. Vernon Johnson of the Johnson Institute in Minneapolis. The specific goal of the old process was to get the alcoholic to enter treatment and stop drinking. Unfortunately, in many cases the intervention process itself became abusive and was used to shame and victimize the chemical dependent into compliance. Whatever it took to get the alcoholic into treatment was acceptable.This "new" model of intervention, Systemic Family Intervention©, is unique because:
• The focus is on the family, not the individual.
• It is a win/win process.
• It is gentle and respectful.
• It is not secretive or conspiratorial.
• It is honest and non-deceptive.
• It is less stressful on the dependent individual, family, and therapist.
• It is highly effective.
The Systemic Family Intervention© process is highly successful with a wide-range of addictions, including food, gambling, sex, and other
compulsive/addictive behaviors which harm the addict as well as those close to her or him.
How can the intervention process be respectful and invitational?
The old model often involves disrespectful confrontation and shaming. The Systemic Family Intervention© model is invitational and supportive; the family comes together to support one another, including the identified patient, in the process of healing.
The old model focuses on inappropriate behavior and as a result often produces shame and resistance. This confrontational model had at its core the need for "tough love" and accurate documentation of inappropriate behaviors. Systemic Family Intervention© focuses on what each family member has actually experienced as a result of the addiction in the family. The family members process what has happened to them as a result of the chemical dependent's misuse of alcohol or drugs and develop new directions for personal health. There is no separation drawn between the identified patient and other family members, so she/he is invited to the attend family meetings. During these meetings, participants discuss the impact of the family's past history of addictive or high-stress behavior on present-day relationships.
What is the goal of intervention?
The old model has a single goal: get the alcoholic or addict into treatment as soon as possible. The new model, Systemic Family Intervention©, is process oriented: The intervention "event" with the addicted person is only a small part of the process of change.
The intervention process is designed to recognize the effects of addiction on the family. The family is helped to recognize and change old patterns of behavior. The alcoholic or addict is invited to join the family in the process of change. The new model focuses on systemic family health, regardless of whether the identified patient goes to treatment. In the new model, an intervention is a success if the family system becomes markedly healthier, and this is inevitable.
What is the professional's role in the intervention process?
In the old model, the counselor's role is to lead an "event." The
intervention itself is almost like a one-on-one confrontation with an
audience. The family members do not learn the skills necessary to
communicate with the identified patient and among themselves. The group often falls back into its same morbid patterns of communication.
In the Systemic Family Intervention© model, the counselor's role is that of the process facilitator who teaches and encourages methods of speaking and behaving that are useful for this family. The family, in turn, joins to address the family's emotional pain caused by the misuse of chemicals over time. The product of this edu-therapy process is that each individual learns new skills; identifies, processes and understands old behavior patterns; and commits to change.
Who is the identified patient in an intervention?
In the old model, the identified patient (IP) is one person˜the alcoholic or addict. In the new model, the "identified patient" is the family and the family system. The people who come to the therapist are all identified patients; the focus is on them, not the addicted person. In the Systemic Family Intervention© model, the intervention process is designed to recognize and change the effects of the addiction on family and friends, not just to change the behavior of the addict.
This new model of intervention involves identifying the maladaptive
relationships that have inadvertently allowed, and sometimes even
encouraged, the addicted person to continue his/her behavior. The primary goal of Systemic Family Intervention© is to create a healthy alive family system. The goal is to to get all the family memebers to appropriate care.
At what point does the chemically affected person get involved?
In the old model, the family kept secret from the identified patient (IP)
that family meetings were taking place. Usually the addicted person did not know what was going to happen until confronted with the intervention "event."In the new model, Systemic Family Intervention©, the IP is informed that the family is having a series of meetings to which she or he is invited. The objective of these meetings is to learn skills to achieve individual and family health for all members of the system˜including the chemically affected person.
What happens in a Systemic Family Intervention©?
Under the confrontational model, the face-to-face intervention lasted 2 to 12 hours. In a Systemic Family Intervention©, the process seems to be most effective over a 2.5 day period (about 16-18 hours).
The process of recognizing old behaviors, learning new communcation skills, and instituting change, varies with each family group. The meetings address the need for all members of the group to commit to change and the identified patient is but one member of the group.
Typically families participate in an additional 3-5 hours that are committed to post-intervention family meetings and post-treatment meetings. Family members describe their new directions and receive reports from the treatment. They also prepare for "Family Week" scheduled by the facility working with the identified patient.
How successful is intervention at getting the chemically affected person into treatment?
The Systemic Family Intervention© model is more effective than the old model at getting the alcoholic or addict into treatment. Under the old model, only about 50 percent of identified patients commit to and complete treatment. In contrast, under the new model more than 90 percent do. With the addicted person's entire support system involved, the means through which the person previously sustained her or his behavior are no longer available. Everything changes, and the addict is pulled into the change process. In this new intervention model, success occurs when the family system and the identified patient recognize old patterns of behavior, learn new communication skills, establish boundaries, and accept personal commitment for change. |
