What should be the objective of the Intervention?

The relief of suffering is the underlying agenda of any Intervention. Changing the self-destructive behaviour at the root of suffering is always the focus regardless of the form an Intervention may take.

Nearly all families begin the Intervention process in the same basic stance:

"A person in my family is drinking too much. I worry he will have an accident and die. I want him to stop drinking so he will be happy and the rest of us can stop worrying. Nothing we have done so far has done any good. An Intervention is our last hope. Will it work?"

An immediate objective of most Interventions is to have the addict accept help of some sort - detox, residential treatment, outpatient treatment, AA, therapy or some combination of these. The classical model often defines treatment for the addict as its primary objective.

Sometimes a family can readily understand how changes in their own attitudes and behaviours can be a powerful influence on the addict and are willing and able to invest time in their own education and treatment.

When this happens the objective of the Intervention is broadened into having everyone in the family (including the addict) accept help of some sort -- education, self-help groups, therapy and other forms of appropriate treatment.