Is Brief Intervention Therapy Right For My Loved One?
It can be incredibly challenging to be the loved one of a person struggling with unhealthy substance use or health-risk behaviors. Constant worry, concern, sadness, frustration and a deep desire to help are just a few of the many complex emotions you may be experiencing. Not many people know how to best care for and support a person struggling with substance abuse or dependence or a mental health problem.
Individuals who struggle with addiction or other dangerous, unhealthy behaviors are frequently unable or hesitant to seek treatment for themselves. It is common for friends or family to help connect their loved ones to resources and treatment. For treatment-hesitant individuals, brief intervention therapy may be a helpful tool to help them see the benefits of treatment and the need for a change in their behavior. We’ve outlined the basics of brief intervention therapy here to help you understand if this therapy may benefit your friend or family member.
If you’re reading this and you are struggling with addiction, mental health challenges, or another unhealthy behavior, and you would like to seek help from a professional, please contact us to meet with a provider.
What is brief intervention therapy?
Brief intervention therapy is a solutions-focused, short counseling treatment typically delivered to patients who are not actively seeking treatment for their unhealthy behaviors, addiction or substance abuse. Brief intervention therapy is usually the first type of treatment or therapy used, and it is outcome-based. It focuses on creating a response and change in behavior following the brief intervention. For example, suppose you are concerned about a loved one’s dependence and abuse of alcohol. In that case, a brief intervention could be used as a first-line approach to help them see the need for different behavior, motivate them to change or seek additional addiction treatment.
General practitioners or other qualified healthcare providers can administer brief interventions. However, most often, mental healthcare professionals like psychiatrists or licensed professional counselors have more extensive training in using brief intervention therapy methods.
What behaviors can it help?
While brief intervention therapy is often used for alcohol addiction, drug addiction or other substance abuse behaviors, it can be used for various unhealthy or health-risk behaviors. These unhealthy behaviors may include:
Alcohol abuse
Drug abuse
Tobacco or other substance addiction or abuse
Mild to moderate mental health diagnoses
Unsafe sexual practices
Non-adherence to prescribed medical regimens
Brief Intervention vs. Long-Term Treatment
Often, individuals may not know that brief interventions exist or the effectiveness of this type of treatment. Many people assume intensive or highly-specialized treatments are the only treatment for substance abuse or addiction. However, brief interventions are clinically proven to help many individuals create real change in their behaviors.
Because brief interventions are a brief and first-line treatment, there are some limitations or guidelines for who is a good candidate for brief intervention therapy. You might connect someone to a psychiatrist, licensed professional counselor or healthcare provider for brief interventions if they meet the following criteria:
They may not realize yet that they have a problem
They have not earnestly sought previous treatment
They have a severe consumption pattern for drugs or alcohol but have not yet experienced harmful consequences
They have a belief in or see the value of therapy
They have a community of support or family to help them as they seek to change
Their duration of substance abuse or unhealthy behavior is not an extended amount of time
Their behaviors are not so severe that it requires immediate, emergent-type action
Longer-term or specialized treatment may be appropriate for your friend or family member instead of brief intervention therapy if they do not meet the criteria listed above. Each type of addiction or health-risk behavior is unique and has different circumstances, but some reasons to seek more-intensive or longer-term treatment are:
They have more severe problems, addiction or substance abuse
They have exhibited long-term addiction or health-risk behavior
They are facing multiple concurrent problems
Their previous shorter treatment attempts have failed
They are at risk of experiencing withdrawal or psychosis
They have a history of relapse
They do not have a community of social support to aid in their recovery and behavior change
Ultimately, as the loved one of a person exhibiting health-risk behaviors, the first step you can take is to connect that person with a trained professional. Health professionals are trained to assess patients in a multidimensional way to understand the potential risks, conditions, complications, emotional needs, and readiness to change. The health care provider can then recommend a treatment plan or provide a referral to a specialist to help your loved one overcome their addiction, mental health crisis or unhealthy behavior.
What are some of the types of brief interventions?
If brief intervention therapies are the right course of action for your loved one, it might be helpful to understand what these short therapies include. Licensed and trained health professionals are often educated in different methods of brief intervention therapies. Each of the different models of brief interventions share a few key characteristics.
Key characteristics of brief interventions:
A short 15-30 minute session focused on specific behaviors
An initial assessment of the patient
Feedback on the assessment
An emphasis on creating specific change
Education and advice
Methods of Brief Intervention Therapy
Each practitioner has their own preference for brief interventions, and many widely-used methodologies exist. Each type of intervention is highly interactive and engaging with the patient. A few common intervention therapies are:
Motivational Interviewing
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
Problem-Solving Therapy
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Other solutions-focused type therapies
Additionally, the acronym FRAMES is often used in brief intervention therapy, particularly when addressing alcohol abuse.
FRAMES is summarized as:
Feedback: Feedback on the risk for alcohol problems
Responsibility: Identifying where the individual with alcohol misuse is responsible for change
Advice: Providing advice about reduction or explicit direction to change
Menu: Providing a variety of strategies for change
Empathy: Showing empathy with a warm, reflective, empathic and understanding approach
Self-efficacy: Encouraging and affirming the self-efficacy of the misusing person in making a change
If you believe your friend or family member is showing heath-risk behaviors, don’t try to change their behavior on your own. Seeking support and guidance from trained healthcare professionals will benefit you and your loved one.
If you would like to help connect them to resources to change unhealthy behaviors, please contact one of our behavioral health providers in Oklahoma today to schedule an appointment. GSP Health providers see patients in Medford, Clinton, Cherokee and Enid.