The Importance of Family Alignment in Addiction Intervention: An Interview with Jane Mintz

When a family chooses to do a professional intervention to help a loved one with alcohol or drug addiction, it’s usually because they have tried everything else and feel they have no other option.

These are families in crisis. Over the years, the addiction has damaged not only the addict but the family and friends who have dealt with the chaos the addict has created. Addiction tends to run in families, so the addict in crisis might not be the only one dealing with drug or alcohol issues. By the time the family seeks out an interventionist patterns of co-dependency and enabling have been cemented. This means that although some family members may feel committed to the intervention, the risk for unintentional sabotage of the process is high.

“They are fragmented people,” explains Jane Mintz, a licensed addiction intervention specialist who has come to be known as a specialist in handling very complex, potentially volatile interventions. “They have different opinions. The intervention is as much about the families as it is about the affected individual. They’re in as much crisis.” … Continue Reading

A Guide to Interventions

If your friend, family member, or loved one is struggling with addiction, substance abuse, or another disorder and either doesn’t seem to recognize his or her problem or refuses to get help, you may want to consider organizing an intervention. Here are a few guidelines and suggestions to aid you in the process. Remember, the best time to initiate an intervention is now—not when the person of concern has hit rock bottom. By giving your loved one a reason to seek help, you could be saving his or her life—and greatly improving your own.

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