Article Review

Flora, Carlin. "Tough Love." Psychology Today Magazine Nov./Dec. 2005

In this article they discuss the effects of interventions on someone who is suffering from a drug or alcohol of addiction. It starts by telling about Brenda who has been an alcoholic and drug addict for 30 years and has been drinking up to 28 beers a day. Her husband was also an alcoholic and was arrested for beating one of their sons. Her sister said "I think everyone had given up on her."

So they decided to confront Brenda in the hopes of forcing her into treatment. Normally called an intervention, which in the psych world the term refers more generally to the use of any therapy. It says that no data exists on the effectiveness of an intervention, but motivational interviewing conducted by licensed therapists has reduced alcohol and drug use. Some Psychologists say that a normal intervention may backfire, causing resistance by the abuser. "Addicts don't deny that they're using," says Bob Poznanovich the CEO of Addiction Intervention Resources which is a company that, for a price, arranges interventions "They deny that it's hurting others."

Then, they tell how an intervention should be staged. They staged Brenda's, they came in and read their statements of what the addictions are doing to her. The last to read was her 13-year-old son. "I just want to be a kid," he said. "I don't want to be a grown-up when I'm not a grown-up." She agreed to go into rehab. But, an intervention may not always be the best method to use trying to help someone, "There are cases when a person is never seen again and where families are broken up," says Alan Marlatt, professor at the University of Washington. "It can make them want to drink more." Even if an intervention succeeds in getting the abuser into treatment, it is only the first step in what is destined to be a hard road to recovery.

I think this is a good article and relates to psychology a lot. It discusses the reactions of an intervention on an addict and if it is helpful in getting them to stop abusing. Seeing all friends and family there trying to help you can show you how much they care and then you want to show that you care about them and yourself too, so you try rehab. Or it could backfire and cause the person to be very embarrassed which could make things much worse.