– The average number of intervention cases in addictions is usually between 5 and 8 days. But the time that the process lasts depends a lot on the person’s current situation and addiction.
I have had cases in which the result has been speedy, that in an afternoon or four hours, he has reconsidered, and the next day, I have accompanied him to the place where he had to do the treatment. This has been the fastest intervention I have conducted: four hours. I remember a boy who came across his partner, who had already gone through a detoxification center and tried other methods. However, I had yet to explain what I made him see.
His words were literal; he said, “Nobody had given me that approach; what you are telling me has nothing to do with what I had seen.” Then he told me: “Yes, yes, of course, tomorrow we are going to the treatment center.” It was automatic; the next day, the process began.
It was assumed that he had been with other professionals, but the person’s response changes a lot depending on the point of view you give him of his illness and his chances of recovery.
The most extended addiction intervention case I conducted was with an alcoholic, a 56-year-old man. I was working for almost three weeks with him. I was drunk for 15 days because I was drunk nearly half the time. The process was slower; he even accompanied him to the bar to drink. And he said, “Okay, shall we go home?” I told him: “No, we’re not leaving; you have another one: I want to know how you drink. You don’t have to cover yourself now in front of me.”
How Do The Conversations And Situations Occur With Addicted People During An Intervention?
– Some moments and situations are anecdotal. And, of course, there are conflicts since not everything is rosy: intervention work presents its dangers. But not all cases are like that because they never see me as a threat; I will not fight or confront anyone as an interventionist. Yes, I have had challenging situations, but they have passed quickly.
These more complex situations usually occur at the beginning of the intervention when the person does not know what they want to achieve. However, they can also happen when they realize they have to change their life when they understand what I paint in that scenario.
They have insulted, spit on, bitten, and threatened me … yes, there are delicate situations. On one occasion, I had to stop on the highway four times on the way to treatment for a patient to get a flat tire at a gas station. He threw himself there for 40 minutes, and I was behind so there would be no problems with the person he was serving to prevent him from leaving blood in the bathroom… My job was to take care of him to achieve the goal: for him to enter.
On another occasion, a 39-year-old man who had a scrapped car at home intervenes, so you can see the degree of deterioration and marginality in which this person lived. To get into the house, he had to jump over the engine shaft of a BMW, and in the living room, he had seats. Sometimes I say: “Holy shit, what am I getting myself into” or “How am I going to get out of here?”. A 17-year-old boy also confronted me, but when he realized he was serious, he didn’t move on.
Now, it is not usually normal for something more severe than that to happen because there also comes a time when I stop to see if I am going to be in danger or if the person is, So I take a step back.
And I also have some more straightforward interventions, where I talk to the person for four or five days, and they fully understand that they need treatment. I give him a point of view that no one around him could give him, and there is no significant conflict: he neither insults nor threatens me, and he even ends up thanking me.…