Step 4: "Who Should be There?

One of the major considerations involving intervention is selecting who will be there. This matter should be well thought out beforehand. The number of people there is less important than who is there.

If at all possible, the person in the family whom the addict respects the most should be there. This person is an opinion leader to the addict and needs to be there, fully supportive of getting the person help, and well-informed about the actual agenda..

As many family members as possible should be there, as long as each and every one are completely in agreement about the fact that the person needs help and supportive of the general agenda. If someone in the family is antagonistic against the addict and is not capable of restraining themselves from arguments and blame, then you might consider leaving them out. Usually, the addict has many enemies and has done wrong to most of the family, but arguments and recrimination will not benefit the cause of getting the addict to seek treatment, and, in fact, will usually result in stopping this from happening, because the focus of attention gets placed on the argument and not on the matters at hand.

Many people hire professional intervention counselors to run the intervention. This is advisable in many situations, but not a necessity in most. This depends largely on individual circumstances. For instance, does the person have pending legal issues, external pressures etc. or does the person deny completely any drug usage. These types of factors need to be considered completely before bringing in an outside person.

You may want to seek help in establishing who should be present at the intervention, because it is a crucial factor.

Click here to learn step 5: "The appropriate time".