Doing intervention like we do at Drew Horowitz & Associates means traveling around the country, often to remote locations. What does this look like? Well, long days in flight and behind the wheel of old, high-mileage rental cars; two-star hotels and microwavable food from gas stations.
Is this what makes intervention so exhausting? Not at all. Believe it or not, this is the easy part.
Most motivated and hardworking people can endure difficult travel. However, most people, even those with a strong work ethic, can’t juggle the challenges and moving parts of an intervention. That’s why my team and I hold ourselves to the highest degrees of education and training: They give us the readiness and right to provide this life-saving service.
The criteria I hold for myself, and my practice’s four other interventionists are grounded in what I, as a professional who facilitates 70 to 80 interventions a year and has done more than 800 the past decade, know to be the clinical foundation necessary to do the job. Together, the three prerequisites below not only produce better outcomes but protect the public from being misled during times of crisis.
- Clinical Training: Licensure in both addiction and mental health gives interventionists the training and background without which, I can say with absolute certainty, I and others would be inadequately prepared to facilitate what can be last-chance efforts.
- Clinical Intuition: Advanced degrees hardwire clinical interventionists with a sixth sense, a feel for the process, that equips us to say the right thing at the right moment and make decisions quickly—decisions that can determine the course of someone’s life and an entire family’s future.
- Clinical Ethics: A strong ethical base and understanding of client welfare ensure that these decisions don’t neglect components that are necessary for protecting people. Unintentional harm is still harm.
As an interventionist, I deal with distraught families, active drug and alcohol users, and chaotic home settings on a daily basis. Being a clinician provides me with the toolbox and armor I need to perform my job responsibly and effectively.
