It’s a process, not an event
Addiction, Substance Abuse, and Mental Illness impact an entire family system and support group. By the time families and friends take the first step toward asking for help, they have endured a great deal of pain, frustration, anger, and sadness. Active mental illness and addiction behaviors can hold a family hostage. Uncertainty, hopelessness, fear, chaos, and drama are all emotions and experiences families face when loving someone suffering from substance use disorder and/or co-occurring disorders. Families may feel a lack of hope in their overwhelming journey into “the unknown” as they try to provide help to their suffering loved one, especially when they experience a great deal of pain and suffering from the many failed attempts to help or control the individual. After repeated conversations, pleas, and ultimatums have failed, the situation often continues to deteriorate. The family’s intense feeling of hopelessness is very real. The good news is interventions do work and can jump start the Recovery process; not only for the addict, but for the entire family.
Blanchard & Associates views interventions as a process, not an event. It has been proven that the best results occur when the entire family is involved in the Recovery process. Our Intervention and Crisis Management employs the most progressive, evidence-based treatment approach used to treat substance use disorder and co-occurring disorders. Cultivated through a decade of experience working with the most premier treatment centers and addiction professionals in the world, Blanchard & Associates’ “Invitational Model” includes the entire family and support system. A combination of Family Systems, Motivational Interviewing, and evidence-based theories, our caring and empathetic approach provides a knowledgeable, safe, and comfortable experience during your family’s time of crisis.
Intervention Approach
Blanchard & Associates believes in guiding and helping families establish a firm foundation in recovery and that requires healthy behaviors. Addiction and mental illness are diseases that can rob an individual of their self-awareness and livelihood. They are often unaware of the consequences of their behavior, the degree of their addiction, and its influence on their family and support system. Our intervention approach aims to provide awareness and help the suffering individual recognize the scale of the problem and convince him or her to seek immediate help. Addiction and mental illness carry stigmas and characteristics that riddle suffering individuals with unspoken shame, guilt, and remorse. Helping individuals see that they are not bad people – just sick and in need of treatment—is an integral part of the process. Families need awareness of their own behaviors, as well. Treating and supporting the ENTIRE family provides the best opportunity for the suffering individual to discover long term recovery and a happy, healthy life!
Our approach is non-threatening and therapeutic for the entire family. Family members and the identified patient (whenever possible and clinically appropriate) are aware of our involvement and purpose of the family meeting. We do not isolate the identified patient, but assist the family members in sharing their treatment plan by inviting the patient to participate by attending treatment as his or her part of the family treatment plan. This minimizes shame and allows the family to express concern while also taking responsibility for areas where they require therapeutic support.
Although the most emotionally charged component of this process for family members and loved ones is the “intervention” meeting, for the experienced professionals, getting the patient into treatment is the simplest component of the process. It’s the remaining days of continuing care, family work, and planning and implementation of the aftercare that is much more vital and influential in the long-term prognosis of the family system. And that’s what Blanchard & Associates is here to heal.