One of the most painful experiences in life is losing someone you love. When a person you love is caught up in the undertow of addiction, and you can see them slipping away, it’s hard not to feel powerless and overcome with anguish. Addiction is incredibly cruel. When all of the emotional appeals and efforts to intercede have failed, an addiction intervention may be the last ditch effort to save the addicted person from themselves. 

How do interventions work? When is it time for an intervention? This NJRC article explores addiction intervention inside and out and answers these questions and many more. 

What is an Addiction Intervention?

An addiction intervention is a carefully planned process where family and friends, often with the help of a professional interventionist, confront a person struggling with addiction. The goal is to motivate them to seek treatment by presenting the negative impact of their addiction and offering a structured treatment plan.

Ideally, a well-planned intervention will leave the addicted person little choice but to accept help by making all of the other options as unattractive as possible. This may mean cutting off any financial support or access to children or loved ones. 

An addiction intervention:

• Aims to coerce the person to accept help and treatment by closing off other avenues and making going to drug treatment the path of least resistance. 
• Requires a solid, organized plan and the participation of loved ones, friends, and often a professional interventionist in order to be successful. 
• Is successful when the addicted person accepts help and enters a drug and alcohol treatment program. 

Exercising extreme measures in an intervention can be incredibly difficult—-yet ‘holding the line’ is the surest way to see that an intervention is successful. This is one of the reasons why many people hire a professional interventionist to stage the intervention. 

When is it Time for an Addiction Intervention?

Deciding to intervene on a loved one who is in a downward spiral of addiction isn’t always easy. It means you’ve given up on any chance of that person stopping alone. But it’s important to avoid denial here. In your heart, you will probably know when the time is right. 

If you aren’t sure, consider the risks of not intervening. The consequences of staging an intervention when it isn’t necessary pale in comparison to the tragedy that may occur if not enough is done. 

If the person you love has rejected all appeals and offers of help so far and they are putting themselves or others at risk of bodily injury or death —- then it’s not too soon for an intervention. 

How Does an Intervention Work? 

Step 1: Contact the Addiction Treatment Center

After a successful intervention, the addicted person should be on their way to treatment, at least within 24-48 hours at most. The sooner, the better. Every hour that passes after the intervention increases the likelihood that they will get ‘cold feet’ or try to run. You want to have a rehab lined up and ready to admit that person immediately. 

Step 2: Develop an Intervention Plan/Hire a Professional Interventionist

We strongly recommend hiring a certified addiction interventionist if you intend to stage an intervention for someone you love. There’s a simple reason for that. About 80-90% of professional interventions are ultimately successful. The success rate of family interventions without a professional is around 40-50%. 

Step 3: Engage Family and Loved Ones

The more trusted people you can involve in the intervention, the better. This doesn’t necessarily mean every one of those people needs to be in the room when it occurs, though. What matters most is that everyone plays their role. That means no enabling or caving into codependency. That can be tough, which is another reason why hiring a pro is smart. 

Step 4: Stage The Intervention

If you hire a professional, they will make all of the arrangements to plan the intervention. All you will really need to do is answer questions and follow directions. Suppose you plan to stage the intervention yourselves. In that case, we recommend at least buying a book about addiction intervention, for example, Intervention: How to Help Someone Who Doesn’t Want Help by Vernon E. Johnson, D.D.  

What is an Extreme Intervention for Addiction? 

There is no set definition for an ‘extreme intervention,’ per se. But, it’s fair to say that an intervention that pulls out all the stops and goes to any (legal) length possible to get a person into a drug and alcohol rehab center could be termed an extreme intervention.

An extreme intervention isn’t necessary in every case, but there are situations where the usual measures simply aren’t enough; you may need to go outside the lines a bit. You can’t legally, physically force someone to go into rehab yourself. Still, New Jersey does have a recently updated involuntary commitment law that might be of help to you, if all else fails.   

New Jersey’s New Involuntary Commitment Law

NJ Governor Phil Murphy signed a law in 2023 that increased the number of days that a person can be held against their will during a mental health crisis. The law previously allowed for a 72-hour hold if a person was deemed a danger to themselves or others. The new, revised law doubles that to 144 hours or 6 days. 

NJRC: Evidence-Based Addiction Treatment in New Jersey

If you have any questions about drug detox, addiction intervention, or drug treatment in NJ, please call us anytime—we’re here to help. 

At NJRC, we aim to provide the highest quality addiction treatment in New Jersey. We use evidence-based methods, validated by peer-reviewed clinical research, to support individuals in transforming their lives daily.

Is someone you care about struggling with opioid, alcohol, or drug addiction? NJRC has helped thousands of families like yours. We can help you, too. The first step is reaching out and making contact.

NJRC is in the business of changing lives for the better. What can we do for you? 

Let’s talk:  (877) 790-5873