Family interventions – what’s your experience?

Advice & Questions
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Hi everyone. I go by the name Pandita, my DOC is alcohol and I am sober for 40 days today (second time around, after a relapse after 2,5 years sobriety). I still feel a bit shy to write on TS, but I feel maybe you all can really help me with my question.

I find most of everyones stories very relatable and take out a lot from it for my own sobriety. It really helps me stay on track. However, the one thing, I have no personal experience with is a family/friend intervention. I need to address the issue of alcohol abuse with my dad. His drinking has gotten worse in the past two year and Christmas (with kids around) has been very uncomfortable.

I am aware, that this talk has a high probability to go south, since I am not sure my dad is ready to hear this. Chances are, he will get really offended and angry or just run away and not talk to me for a while. I am not expecting a comfortable talk. I am moderating my expectations.

But I would also like this talk to be as helpful as possible. I never got an intervention or one-on-one talk myself, therefore I am curious to hear, how you experienced it. Was there anything in there, you found especially helpful?

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Not to sound like a dick, but what would be most helpful is to not have it at all. At least not now, or near future. I am looking through different scenarios and they all end poorly to very poorly.

Best thing you can do is continually live sober and show him the positive impacts sobriety is having in your life.

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Carry your sobriety and be open and willing to/ for support when it’s needed, not before…:pray::heart::heart::pray:

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Thank you for your thought on this. Although it wasn’t, what I expected for a reply, I can see your point. And I agree, leading by example is by far the best way! Its a pretty longterm approach though…

I want to express my concern about him driving drunk, passing out at family dinners and such a bit more short term and am looking for a way how to do that in a construcive and gentle manner. I am just not sure that pretending, there wasn’t a problem with it, is the right approach for either side. But maybe it doesn’t have to be me, who brings it up. I will reconsider that.

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