We’re an inpatient program that wants to provide intervention for families of prospective patients. We’ve had patients here before following successful interventions, and things have gone well. Now we’d like to offer the service ourselves. Where should we look to begin?”
I’m glad to hear it, because families are always complaining about the lack of good, affordable intervention assistance out there (depending on where you live, of course).
Here are some questions for planning purposes:
- Do we want to do interventions for any and all comers, or just for persons who are planning on using our program for treatment? If you’re only offering the service to families who plan on sending their loved one through your program, you can probably do it for a lower price, knowing you’ll make up the revenue.
- Do we want to train a current staff member to do interventions? This can be a challenge. Many very adept counselors lack the temperament for intervention. They’re oriented towards preventing crises. An intervention is a controlled crisis, induced for a specific reason. You also have the option of hiring someone who’s already trained, or perhaps you can subcontract to an interventionist in your area. That way you get the service with little initial outlay.
- Is there a particular method we want to use? Not all interventions use the same methodology. You want to pick the one that fits best with your existing program philosophy. That means some exploration on your part. We’ve provided a short reading list in our DIY Intervention guide on this site.
- How much to charge? You can offer several levels of service. One might be simple training. Another might include having an interventionist present when you confront the alcoholic. These command different prices. Shop around to find out what’s standard in your marketplace.
Again, kudos to you for taking this step. Families thank you.
