Ashley Addiction Treatment focuses on collaboration with families and local care specialists to not only help a patient overcome their addiction, but to start the process even before they enter our doors, through an initial intervention. The goal of an intervention is to have the patient take the first steps in treating their Substance Use Disorder (SUD). Intervention could mean breaking down the process of rehab for them in a personalized way, leveraging the emotional power of family and significant others, or the input of a skilled intervention specialist.

The US Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA) sponsored one particular intervention model, Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT), to great success. SBIRT is a proven and effective model that works on a large-scale as well as in a local, community level. The process revolves around individual physicians who already have a rapport with the patient. By training local physicians to be able to identify, diagnose, and refer SUD’s to specialists like Ashley, SBIRT creates a quick and efficient order of operations. One study (Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment: implications of SAMHSA’s SBIRT initiative for substance abuse policy and practice, Babor, Thomas, et al) found that in the first two rounds of SBIRT funding, over one million patients were screened. By 2017, over 2 million were screened, and 20% of those were referred to treatment. 200,000 patients referred to an effective treatment program is a massive success for any public health outreach program, especially considering the massive barrier to entry that addiction poses on many afflicted people.

The beauty of SBIRT is also just how malleable the program is. Because it focuses on building relationships between local rehabs and physicians, it extends the doctor-patient relationship and that inherent trust, over to local rehab specialists. This allows individualized, thematic, and cultural care programs to emerge. One such program is Healing of the Canoe, a program targeted at engaging Native American youth into care programs through culturally thematic storytelling (HEALING OF THE CANOE: PRELIMINARY RESULTS OF A CULTURALLY GROUNDED INTERVENTION TO PREVENT SUBSTANCE ABUSE AND PROMOTE TRIBAL IDENTITY FOR NATIVE YOUTH IN TWO PACIFIC NORTHWEST TRIBES, Donovan, Dennis, et al). Programs that focus on cultural values, like this, can be effective tools to establish a narrative of recovery that resonates with patients to foster lifelong recovery.

For patients who don’t have a strong connection with their doctors, other intervention programs are available, like Arise. Arise is a program that focuses on a straight-forward, honest conversation about addiction and rehab between a patient and his family, and works on slowly escalating the urgency for care in a series of guided interventions. The program features 3 different levels and claims an 83% success rate by the third step.

The Johnson model of intervention is another powerful technique that leverages the family and loved ones of the patient as an “intervention team,” coached and organized by an intervention specialist. In this model, the specialist interviews the family in 2 or 3 different meetings, learning about the patient, the family, and their needs. They can then formulate an effective plan of action to connect with the patient and encourage them to enter rehab. The program emphasizes that shame, guilt, and other negative emotions are never a part of the intervention, and the focus is always on love and the well-being of both the patient and the family.

Community Reinforcement and Family Training (CRAFT) is one great option for individuals in a relationship marred by addiction. CRAFT is a program that focuses on the emotional connection with a Concerned Significant Other (CSO). In this model, a therapist works directly with the CSO of someone suffering from addiction. The CSO is coached and trained on effective intervention techniques, and how to handle the fears and risks that come with intervention, an often very emotional process.

Finding the right intervention approach for your loved one is the critical first step in recovery. We encourage you to call us at (800)799-4673 so we can help pair you with the right program to help your loved one start their recovery journey.