09 Apr Addiction Intervention in Saskatchewan
If your loved one in Regina or Saskatoon is locked in a struggle with substance misuse and addictive behaviour, you already know the strain it puts on your relationship with them. Often, the addiction begins to feel like a third person who has driven a wedge between you and the person you care about. This third wheel is selfish, self-centered, reckless, and demands all your loved one’s time and energy. It’s stealing their life.
Unfortunately, when your family member in Saskatchewan has developed an addiction, it affects your life in more ways than one. Trying to be selfless and give up on your own goals and needs to try to help an addict can often backfire. You only end up enabling and creating codependency, mental health issues, and other unhealthy behaviour. Not only are these problems harmful to you, but they can also deepen the addiction even further.
Drug and alcohol interventions play an important role in helping loved ones seek professional help for addictions. It’s not easy to watch a family member or friend spiral into a life of drug or alcohol addiction. What’s even worse is watching them refuse professional addiction treatment time and time again. Unfortunately, many friends and family members are left to helplessly watch their loved one’s addictions get out of control. It often takes professionals to break through to them in order to get them to go to treatment in Saskatchewan or elsewhere.
Why Use An Interventionist in Saskatchewan?
One baffling aspect of addiction is that many people truly don’t believe that their problem is bad enough to warrant seeking help. We believe that it is never too early to intervene. On the other hand, many people would prefer to be left alone to drink alcohol and use drugs, regardless of the consequences. Sometimes, it takes a lot of time and effort for an addict or alcoholic to see the true weight of their situation. That’s where our Interventionists in Regina and Saskatoon come in.
It is never advised to attempt an intervention without a professional. Addiction is a touchy, emotional subject. As a result, you don’t know how your loved one will respond when confronted about his or her substance abuse. While some may be understanding, others may lash out in anger, hurt, fear, denial, shame, and more. They may try to shift the blame and accuse you. Those in active addiction can be extremely manipulating. You never know what to expect, but our interventionists in Saskatchewan are trained to handle these situations. Before you begin planning an intervention, it’s crucial to speak with an addiction specialist in Saskatchewan first.
A trusted interventionist will help you and your family devise a plan of action. First, you and your family will gain an understanding of the disease of addiction and how you can support your loved one. Next, you will set up a time and place for the intervention and have plans in place for your loved one to check into detox, inpatient rehab, or outpatient programs. The addiction specialist will speak with each member of the group about how their loved one’s behaviours have affected or worried them. These concerns will be written down, adjusted for maximum efficiency, and presented to the loved one during the intervention.
Our addiction specialists and Interventionists in Saskatchewan are trained to handle these difficult situations and will mitigate the conversation if emotions get heated. Our recovery coaches and addiction specialists in Saskatchewan will help you develop a successful plan that will guide your loved one to recovery from addiction. We treat our clients as individuals and believe no one plan fits all. We will consider the unique needs of your loved one and suggest an evidence-based treatment program. We will provide your family and your loved one with guidance and support throughout the entire process even after they have finished a residential treatment program. When an intervention is done the right way, it can ultimately save a person’s life.
What is a Drug and Alcohol Intervention?
Drug and alcohol interventions attempt to encourage individuals to see the full weight of their behaviours and convince them to get help. Our experience shows that the vast majority of alcoholics and addicts are in denial about their addictions long before they actually seek help. However, the sooner people go to treatment, the better. Interventions help disrupt an individual’s substance abuse, attempt to strike an emotional chord with the person suffering, and help the entire family feel at ease once their loved one goes to a rehab center in Saskatchewan.
A vital component of drug and alcohol interventions is to provide education and information to the family about substance use disorder and addiction. It’s hard to understand recurring substance abuse if you haven’t been there yourself, but it’s impossible to help a loved one if you don’t understand what they are going through.
Addiction interventions provide an opportunity for the entire family to confront and support their addicted loved one under the supervision of a certified interventionist. This time isn’t to provoke shame or guilt, but to show your loved one that you care about their health and well-being. Successful intervention planning is highly effective in convincing a friend or family member to go to a rehab program in Saskatchewan.
Who Are Interventions Best Suited For?
Addicts in denial are the most typical candidates for an intervention. Statistics show 95 percent of all substance abusers in Canada don’t even recognize that they have a problem. Some aren’t in denial at all, but they are fearful of undergoing treatment because they know they’ll have to endure withdrawal. Most addicts have heard horror stories from others, or they have felt withdrawal set in once or twice on their own and the last thing they want is to experience it again. We can help ease these fears by setting them up in a private detox center that can manage withdrawal symptoms with medication and supervision to make it as comfortable of an experience as possible. We find if our clients are comfortable they are more likely to finish treatment and gain long-term recovery.
Those who struggle with co-occurring addiction and mental illness often battle more conflict with themselves over whether or not to seek help. They may not always have the luxury of thinking clearly, and when they do, it can be difficult to trust their own thoughts. Some 53 percent of drug addicts and 37 percent of alcoholics are living with a severe mental health disorder.
Someone suffering from mental health issues, like bipolar disorder, ADHD, depression, anxiety, or borderline personality disorder, may be on board with a treatment plan one day and not the next. This is typical behaviour for many addicts, but even more so for those who are mentally ill. Thus, acting quickly is a vital step in every intervention process.
A professional interventionist in Saskatchewan can best determine the type of intervention an addict needs. The process of getting the addicted individual to the treatment facility should be carefully thought out ahead of time. Every moment that goes by is an opportunity for the patient to get cold feet and change her mind.
How Can I Tell If My Loved One is Using Drugs or Alcohol?
Drug use affects Canadians from all walks of life and all socioeconomic statuses. Whatever the reason a person starts taking drugs, whether recreationally or as prescribed, tolerance, patterns of increased use, physical dependence, and, ultimately, addiction may develop.
Drug use can wreak havoc on the body and mind and may eventually become deadly. When you realize that someone you love has a problem, it’s essential to get help right away.
The use of most substances will produce noticeable signs and symptoms. These may include physical or behavioural symptoms; most likely both. If you think someone you care about may be addicted to drugs or alcohol in Saskatchewan, look for the following symptoms:
- Weight and/or appetite fluctuations
- Distancing oneself from social activities
- Loss of interest in friends or hobbies
- Legal or financial problems stemming from substance abuse
- Mood swings or dramatic changes in personality
- Tolerance to a substance
- Using drugs or drinking to avoid withdrawal
- Inability to stop using or cut back when attempted
- Preoccupation with using and maintaining a supply
- Bloodshot, dilated, constricted, or glazed eyes
- Changes in hygiene
- Continually asking for money
- Pawning possessions
- Possessing drug paraphernalia
- Excessive amounts of scabs or unusual bruises
- Extreme fatigue or laziness
- Habitual lying
Interventions in Saskatchewan
Confronting a loved one about their substance use is never easy. It’s not about forcing your loved ones to go to rehab or unleashing anger on them. Instead, the goal is to encourage an addict or alcohol to willingly agree to enter an addiction treatment program. At Saskatchewan Interventions, our experts are experienced and trained in conducting interventions. We will help you plan, organize, and carry out your own.
When interventions are successful and are followed by a comprehensive drug or alcohol rehab plan, it is the most effective approach to long-term sobriety. Our Interventionists, counselors, and addiction specialists not only work with you in the beginning, but we will help develop a personalized aftercare treatment plan for ongoing support for your loved one and the rest of the family.
Our trained interventionists in Regina and Saskatoon can help you and your family stage a drug or alcohol intervention with the ultimate goal of convincing your loved one to go to rehab. You don’t have to wait until your loved one asks for help. They may never ask for help. You can bring help directly to them in Saskatchewan and encourage them to accept the offer. In many cases, this is one of the most effective ways to convince a loved one to go to detox or rehab in Regina, Saskatoon, or elsewhere.
Intervention Do’s
DO make a plan. When you decide that you want to hold an intervention, doing so later that day could be a mistake. The more time and effort you put into planning your intervention, the greater your chances of success.
DO ask for help. An intervention can be a highly charged emotional situation. Not everyone is equipped to handle the inevitable objections that will come from someone who is addicted to drugs or alcohol. You may get the best results if you enlist the help of an addiction professional or a certified interventionist in Saskatchewan.
DO remain calm. It is okay to give examples of hurtful and destructive behaviour, but you should always remain calm when speaking during an intervention. Let your loved one know that you only wish for him or her to get better.
DO offer solutions. Speak about addiction as being a disease as opposed to a behavioural issue. Let your loved one know that there is addiction treatment available and give him or her away to access that care immediately.
Intervention Don’ts
DON’T approach an addict when he or she is high. This may seem like a tall order when it comes to a loved one with a substance use disorder, but you will need to make a plan. Find the time of day when your loved one will be most lucid and coherent and schedule the intervention during that period.
DON’T be judgmental. The list of what not to say during an intervention is fairly long. You should avoid telling addicts that the way they are living their life is wrong, reminding them of their failures, or resorting to name-calling. None of these are productive and are sure to push your loved ones further away.
DON’T enable or allow excuses. Many people are able to stretch out their drug and alcohol use for years courtesy of excuses and the enabling behaviour of family and friends. It is time for this to stop. Not only should you not accept excuses from an addict but you should also avoid making any on his or her behalf.
A drug or alcohol intervention can be emotionally exhausting for all involved, but it might be the only thing that works to convince the addict in your life to seek help. When planned and executed carefully, many of these meetings end with the agreement to get addiction treatment help.
Going To Treatment
The treatment process begins before you ever set foot in a facility. Getting there is half the battle, and a skilled intervention professional in Saskatchewan knows how to make it happen. Avoid setting off alarm bells by confronting an addict who is known to resist help or be in denial over his addiction.
Generally, it is best if the interventionist is the person in charge of transporting the patient in Saskatchewan or wherever it is decided they attend treatment. A long car ride or flight to a treatment facility with a family member or loved one only gives the patient time to play on emotional weaknesses and allows them to divert from the treatment plan ahead.
What If The Intervention Fails?
Even if you do everything right, the intervention might fail. Don’t plan on this, but be ready for it. If the intervention fails, take some time to analyze what happened and brainstorm ways to improve it the next time around. Again, a professional Interventionist or Addiction Specialist in Saskatchewan can be invaluable for this. Then, follow through with any consequences that you laid out in the intervention. For example, if you said you’d stop paying for their apartment, do so. Did you say they couldn’t see their grandchildren if they didn’t get treatment? Approach the subject with empathy and love, but stick to what you said. This kind of tough love can be a real turning point as the individual realizes that their lifestyle is soon going to be unsustainable. And even if it doesn’t work now, your words will have more sway in the next intervention. Finally, prepare for another try. Sometimes it takes several interventions for someone to accept help. Improve your intervention plan however you can, then try again.
The treatment centers we work within Regina and Saskatoon all offer comprehensive and holistic substance abuse treatment programs that are tailored to meet the needs of each client. Contact us to learn more about interventions, admissions, and our various programs before you schedule the intervention with your loved one in Saskatchewan.
Are you ready to help your loved ones get the help they need? Contact us to learn about your options.