Sometimes, an addict may need a little — or a lot — of help to push them toward treatment and recovery, and this is where a professional addiction interventionist comes in to play. The following people are interventionists who we’ve come to admire and respect through their positive involvement with our clients and their families. It is for that reason we recommend their services to your family when an addiction intervention becomes necessary. Please contact us at
877-417-6237 and we’ll connect you with their services, free of charge.
Echevarria New Leaf Interventions
Helping Families Recover Their Lives
Gail Echeverria, PhD, CADC II; is the cofounder for New Leaf Counseling Services, Inc. located in Temecula, California. She has been a certified alcohol and drug counselor for over 14 years. Gail has worked primarily in a medical model setting. Her education spans over a period of 29 + years as a certified Human Service Worker, a crisis interventionist specializing in domestic violence, victims of sexual abuse and substance abuse treatment. Gail wrote a short story which was published in the Addiction Professional magazine in October of 2006, titled, “A Mother’s Cry.” She is currently working on a training workbook on interventions and Integrated Methods of Interventions.
A Family Intervention
When a person (anywhere, any gender, any age) is addicted, it can create unhappiness for all those involved in their life. A professional intervention can be the one thing that will start the process of recovery. Allowing the professionals to do the work frees the family and gives them permission to get out of the way and let the work begin. One day at a time — through direct, effective communication — the road of happy destiny begins.
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Gail and New Leaf’s Mission
The mission of New Leaf is to provide a supportive network of competent addiction professionals to assist with or provide a family intervention, referrals to appropriate treatment facilities and to educate any person interested in learning about addiction and the possibility of recovery.
New Leaf’s Philosophy
The philosophy New Leaf Interventions works and lives by is that there is hope and life after sobriety. We are not looking to save one person from the suffrage of addiction but the whole family. Dealing with broken hearts and dreams is difficult, however planning a funeral is far more worse. Ricardo Echeverria says, “I will not give up until she is dead.” He is talking about his daughter who was lost to the drug world and is now clean and sober for over 6 years. Never ever give up!
Referrals to Treatment
Based on your location and ability to pay we work with you and your interventionist to find the best possible source of treatment available. There was a saying many years ago, “If you do not get help here, get help somewhere.” That is our Motto.
Visit New Leaf Interventions for more info about Gail and her team.
Gallant and Associates
Recovery with Dignity and Respect
Paul J. Gallant MC, LPC, BRI-II is a Masters level, licensed professional counselor and board registered interventionist. He is a member of the Association of Intervention Specialists. He has been helping people recover since 1986 . Paul’s compassion, respect and clinical expertise provide each family with the training and confidence to help their loved one to recover. Paul is an international speaker on the subject of intervention and is well respected in the treatment industry. His close personal and professional contacts at the top centers in the world prove invaluable when negotiating the sometimes difficult pre-admission process. ”I used to believe people needed to want help in order to get well. I now know that getting someone into treatment through an intervention leads to the same success rates.” Paul says. ”I respond to all requests for help within twelve hours and will travel anywhere in the world to help.”
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Intervention Service
Gallant & Associates have been helping people recover since 1986. We work with alcoholism and addiction, eating disorders, compulsive spending, mood disorders and sexual addiction. Our skillful interventionists are all masters level clinicians with special training in family systems. We are committed to treating each person in this process with get help are met with denial, defensiveness, justification or minimization. As the messenger we are often attacked – rage driven by shame.
Talking to alcoholics in a rational and objective manner is therefore often useless or even counterproductive. In other cases the alcoholic may agree with observation that his behavior is harmful to himself and others. He may agree with the need for change and in some cases even make an attempt to relinquish or moderate his alcoholism. A relapse and repetition of the same cycle, sometimes dozens of times often follow this, over a period of many years. Such people manifest remorse, guilt and a passionate determination to “do better next time”. Or they might say, “It will never happen again.” But the behavior recurs despite their apparent insight and desire to behave differently.
Those of us around such alcoholics become frustrated, angry, depressed and often hopeless. We know the alcoholic needs help yet are not sure how to act when he continues to insist he is just fine, that everything is under control. We want to believe that the problem will go away, or that it is just a phase. The alcoholic possesses exceptional skills in deflecting the focus, pointing out our shortcomings, dragging up old conflicts or simply walking out in a huff. After being confronted many alcoholics will engage in still more acting out behavior to self medicate the strong feelings of shame, hurt and resentment.
The turmoil caused by alcoholism is considerable – and it seems to get worse over time. Alcoholism causes people who are not naturally that way to become progressively more self-centered, inconsiderate, dishonest and defensive. They may experience unpredictable mood swings, outbursts of emotional and sometimes physical violence, and make major decisions without adequate consultation or forethought. Their behavior can cause a great deal of destruction not only in their lives but also in the lives of others. Such people are correctly said to be out of control – and those who care about them often do not know what to do but to stand helplessly by and watch them self-destruct. We wait and pray for this person to “hit bottom”, before their out of control behavior leads to tragedy.
The process of Intervention gives those who care about the alcoholic hope – a process by which they can express their concern in a structured and focused format. A well-organized and properly conducted intervention has been the first step in many alcoholics finally realizing recovery.
An Intervention consists of a group of close friends and family members who present their observations and concerns in a non-judgmental manner. This is done with the guidance of an interventionist, in a controlled, objective and systematic fashion. This approach can overcome the denial and delusion of the alcoholic, and presents a unified front of support and love. Intervention is not “family therapy”. Our primary objective is to get the identified patient to say yes to the offer of treatment.
Treatment for the alcoholic is sometimes dangerously delayed because of the mistaken belief that an individual must “hit bottom” or “treatment will work only if the person wants it”. The purpose of the intervention is to break through the alcoholic’s powerful denial and defense system – and face him with the reality of his situation. The collective impact of the facts coupled with the strong emotions of people who care for him can temporarily quiet the denial and connect with the person’s soul.
A properly done intervention is confronting but also deeply caring and supportive. Each participant first affirms the worth of the alcoholic and their positive feelings for him, which are the only reason they have agreed to participate in this painful process. The goal of the intervention is to get the alcoholic into treatment immediately. Experience shows that promises of reform, sincere and often tearful, seldom hold up. A well-planned intervention has arranged treatment in advance, taken care of all practical objections and even packed the alcoholic’s suitcase so that he may be driven directly to the hospital or airport to fly to the hospital.
It is important to address the family system before, during and after the intervention. Find a treatment center with a strong family component. Many alcoholics will be struggling with a co-occurring disorder, such as PTSD, chemical dependency, an eating disorder or major depression. The program should be able to do a comprehensive assessment and individualized treatment plan. Many times the family will receive a call or letter after a week of treatment thanking them for doing the intervention – as one alcoholic said, “Thanks for shutting down the merry go round, I didn’t know how to get off.”
Please visit Gallant and Associates for more on Paul and his team.
Heather Hayes BRI II
Putting Families Back Together
Heather Hayes is a licensed counselor, and Board Registered Interventionist (BRI II). Heather is currently in private practice in Atlanta, Georgia. She received her B.A. from Emory University and her M.Ed. from Antioch University. Ms. Hayes has treated addictions and other disorders for over 28 years. She specializes in the treatment of adolescents/young adults, trauma, brain disorders and the full spectrum of addictive disorders. She is currently the President of the Network of Independent Interventionist. Ms. Hayes has presented nationally and internationally on the issues of Addiction, Co-occurring and Psychiatric Disorders, Disordered Eating, Trauma, and Adolescent and Young Adult Issues. In addition, she is the psychological profiler for the Hostage Negotiation and SWAT team for the Forsyth County Sheriffs Department. She has published in these areas and is coauthor of the upcoming book Invitational Intervention–the ARISE Model: A Step-by-Step Guide for Helping Clinicians Understand Women’s Issues in Addiction Treatment Entry and Recovery. For more information about Heather please visit: www.heatherhayes.tv
Life Skills Authorities
Michael Plahn is a National Intervention Specialist (trained in several approaches), Recovery Coaching Expert, and founder of LifeSkills Authorities (LSA). The LSA Pre-treatment Solution (PTS) helps families affected by addiction and/or untreated mental illness to finally address these issue(s) with appropriate solutions. A single source of contact guides the family through every detail needed to provide the afflicted loved-one (as well as the entire family) with solutions that can finally lead to healing and long-term change that have previously been so elusive. LSA’s PTS begins to remove stress and confusion with the very first call and has been referred to as, “The most comprehensive approach to beginning the treatment process, available anywhere in the world” by a world-renowned leader in addiction, trauma, and mental health treatment. LSA’s Recovery Coaching is a 52-week holistic coaching program that is referred to as “A guardian angel for anyone suffering from addiction or mental health issues,” by a Fortune 100 Senior Executive. LSA assembles an individualized Recovery Team specific to the client’s needs to not only ease the transition from a stable secure treatment environment, but allows the client to thrive in a ‘real world’ setting. Specialized tracks for Professionals & Executives are available. Contact Michael at 312.265.0909 or email him: mplahn@lifeskillsauthorities.com for help now.
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Intervention Service
LSA’s Pre-Treatment Solution is much more than just an Intervention. It is a TOTAL SOLUTION for a family who wants to help an afflicted loved-one. LSA’s PTS includes:
- Concierge-level consulting to determine solutions for the entire family (ascertaining the appropriate level(s) of care that may be needed; objectively helping the family select options for appropriate facilities to execute the treatment; and solutions for the entire family to begin seeking help through Family Therapy Intensives and/or individual therapy options
- Dignified, compassionate, and loving Intervention/Family Meeting facilitation
- Arrangement for all travel to remove stress from family
- Personal accompaniment (from the LSA Specialist who has worked the case from the start) to the treatment facility selected by the afflicted person. This is not just to get them to the program safely, but instead to prepare the afflicted individual for treatment (via appropriate sharing and proven processes) and rapidly build significant and crucial rapport; in-person participation at intake, and staying an additional day to help with client acclimation at treatment.
- This is truly a TOTAL SOLUTION for the family in crisis
Maria Sorensen MA, LCDP, SAP
Maria Sorensen, MA, LCDP, SAP is the cofounder for Healing Arts, LLC located in North Kingstown, Rhode Island. She had been a licensed chemical dependency counselor for almost 20 years. Maria obtained her Masters degree in Holistic Counseling from Salve Regina University in 1996 where she learned to integrate a body, mind, spirit approach to help others. She specializes in treating adults and adolescents with addiction and trauma issues. Maria is certified as a Co-occurring Disorders Professional Diplomat {CCDC-D}. She is an independent professional family interventionist with a strong 12-step background. Maria is qualified by the Department of Transportation to do substance abuse evaluations for DOT employees. She has worked as a clinician at RI Employee Assistance Services, Classical High School, Providence Center, Domestic Violence Resource Center, Phoenix House, Woman & Infant’s Project Link and Memorial Hospital. She has extensive experience providing services to the courts and DCYF. In addition to her education and professional experience, Maria has been sober and clean in her own recovery process since age 21 which allows her to understand addiction and recovery on a deep and personal level.
