A personal crisis can occur when events of an extraordinary nature create extreme tension and stress within an individual which require major decisions or actions to resolve. A crisis can also be related to a change in events that comprise the day-to-day life of a person and those in their close circle. Such situations may be loss of a job, extreme financial hardship, alcoholism or addiction and other situations that are life altering and require action.
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
