Do you know of an intervention specialist in the greater Baltimore area?

If you don’t get any personal recos, you could call the number listed for AA in the Baltimore area.

Generally the people answering the phones are those with a long track record in recovery and would be thoroughly familiar with their local area.

You really do want an interventionist who has him/herself been in recovery IMHO.

Good luck with this.

I second what @Buttonstc has said. Often interventions by AA members are much more effective than those conducted by a shrink or a paid outsider.

The thing is, “yougottawanna,” and if the intended recipient is not ready to recover, all the intervening in the world will not make much of a difference.

I think it is so important that the relatives and other interested parties involve themselves in Alanon or ACOA to learn how to deal with the alcoholic and equally if not more importantly their own feelings and behavior. I have known a lot of folks close to alkies who themselves were “stark raving sober!”

Thanks, both of you. I have actually been through this already with someone I’m close to. I bought the interventionist’s concept of “raising the bottom” and creating a controlled crisis, and in the case I was party to, it worked and worked fast. I’ve also seen the effects of the AA program over many years.

I’m still a normie with a normie’s perspective, but I’m an old hand compared with the relatives who need the help now. I don’t know about this relative in Maryland and what his attitude or state of readiness is, but I hear he’s pretty sick—maybe sick enough. So I’m just trying to get as many facts and resources lined up as possible before I take a step.