What is the long term benefit of an Intervention?

A new dance.

Think of a family's interactions as a well choreographed dance. Everything they do and say to each other has been perfected by hours of rehearsal. Each member recognizes their cues and executes their steps without thinking - day after day after day.

Imagine the dancers circling around one member's addictive behavour problem. Everyone knows the moves by heart, even the addict. And although everyone hates the dance, no one can imagine how to stop doing what they are doing. In fact wanting to stop has become a part of the dance. Guilt and suffering are also written in. The family could go on like this forever.

An Intervention is a controlled or choreographed crisis. The dance, business-as-usual behavior of the addict and family, is stopped for a long enough time to get everyone's attention.

One day a group of the dancers stand still when they would normally being turning somersaults. At that moment everything changes.

Although the transition is not always smooth and some dancers may bump into each other at first, the important thing is that the dance is brought to a stop; the addict has no one left to do the old steps with. And at long last the family has the addict's complete attention.

It now becomes possible for a different dance to begin.

An Intervention changes the dance.