Drug and alcohol interventions can be stressful for the entire family and friends of the addict. It may be that no one feels comfortable being "in charge" of the program and may feel anxious about confronting the addict when it most counts. This is where an interventionist comes in. They can be hired from inpatient or outpatient programs and some have private practices. It's their job to plan the intervention and to participate in the event so that it goes as well as possible.

An interventionist may have a degree in alcohol and drug rehabilitation and many have counseling skills or degrees in psychology. They may have had addiction problems themselves in the past and so they know exactly what to expect from an intervention. They tend to be very intuitive when it comes to addiction and can uncover the best way to get to the addict and convince them to go into treatment.

If you are using an inpatient program, call them first and when asking about insurance coverage and openings, see if they have an interventionist for you to utilize. Make an appointment to meet the interventionist in advance. You can find out if you think the individual will mesh with the addict and get ideas about what things you need to do in order to make the intervention go well. Find out who you should have at the intervention and tell the interventionist the history of the addict's problems and any previous attempts that have been made to get the person into treatment. This will give the interventionist all the information necessary to make sure the program goes well this time.

Set a time for the interventionist to take part in the intervention and make sure you get the addict to the proper place at the proper time. An intervention needs to be carefully planned and definitely not spontaneous. You may wish to have written statements you read off to the addict so you remember all of the things the addict has done that has had an impact on you. Someone, perhaps the interventionist himself, needs to have an outline of what the addiction has done to the addict, including health concerns, accident concerns and relationship problems.

The interventionist isn't there to be your friend. They are there to be supportive to all of you, including the addict, and to direct the flow of conversation so that it has the greatest impact on the addict and their decision to enter treatment. They are a moderator of sorts and cannot do everything. Your role in the intervention is crucial to the success of the intervention and you need to make sure that everyone involved in the experience has a role that makes the event a success.