The interventionist is a teacher and counselor, someone who can identify and suggest solutions for the dynamics of abuse, enabling, and codependency that virtually always characterize an addict’s family life. The interventionist is also a guide and a motivator, someone who can outline a way through the disease and stoke an honest desire to enter and complete treatment.

An effective interventionist knows that getting someone to go to treatment or rehab is not the actual goal of an intervention, but the means by which the real goal can be achieved. Getting someone to treatment isn’t necessarily difficult--over 90% of interventions result in the addict going into treatment. But the true goal of long term sobriety with a transformed quality of life can remain elusive if the interventionist has not properly educated and empowered both addict and family and is not committed to concerned follow up and availability to the family during treatment and after care.

An effective interventionist really cares about the addict and all the people in his or her life--actually becoming a part of their team and family to see everyone through the process by:

• Educating the family about the disease and effect of addiction and enabling.
  
• Identifying and helping remove enabling factors that are contributing or allowing the addiction to continue.
  
• Working to change the family dynamics to more effectively handle the addiction and increase the willingness of the alcoholic or addict.
  
• Setting healthy boundaries within the family so that they are no longer negatively affected by the drug or alcohol use of the alcoholic or addict.
  
• Creating a team mentality so the family functions as one to learn effective tools to get the addict to treatment, to help keep them there, and to focus on recovery after he or she returns home.
  
• Formulating and implement a long-term recovery plan in order to increase the chances of permanent abstinence and adherence to the plan as a family.