Intervention

Last reviewed Saturday, October 24, 2026

In mental health, an intervention is any planned action meant to change a problem: a course of therapy, help in a crisis, a short talk about drinking, or a programme for a whole school. In everyday speech, especially about addiction, it also means a planned family meeting that urges someone to accept treatment.

Also called: psychological intervention; psychosocial intervention; treatment, in research papers. The family meeting is also called a confrontational or staged intervention, or the Johnson Institute intervention.

Types of intervention

Psychological interventions: talking therapies such as cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), problem-solving therapy and counselling.
Psychosocial interventions: support around the person, such as family sessions, education about the condition and rehabilitation. The World Health Organization lists these among the effective treatments for schizophrenia, alongside medicines.
Crisis intervention: short-term help when someone is overwhelmed or unsafe. Safety comes first, then a link to ongoing care. A safety plan is one tool. See crisis intervention.
Brief intervention: a short, structured conversation, often with a doctor or nurse, after a questionnaire shows risky drinking. UK guidance describes structured brief advice and longer, extended brief interventions.
Family intervention for addiction: family members acting together to get a relative into treatment, described below.

How it works

Two family approaches have been compared in trials, and they work very differently.

In the confrontational model, family and friends prepare with a counsellor for a meeting where they confront the person together about their drinking or drug use and ask them to accept treatment.

CRAFT (Community Reinforcement and Family Training) takes a gentler route. Over several sessions, family members learn skills to use at home: how to stay safe, how to spot when and why the use happens, how to reward time spent sober, and how to let the person face the natural consequences of using. It avoids confrontation altogether.

What the evidence says

In a US trial with 130 family members of people with drinking problems, CRAFT got 64% of unwilling drinkers into treatment, against 30% for the confrontational meeting and 13% for a programme that encouraged families to join Al-Anon support groups. Most families in the confrontational group (70%) decided not to hold the meeting. Of those who did, three in four got their relative into treatment.

A review of four trials found CRAFT engaged about two-thirds of people who had refused treatment, usually after four to six sessions. In all three approaches, the family members’ own wellbeing improved too.

In Nigeria

Families often act before any clinic is involved. In Nigerian psychiatric hospital studies, between about 3 and 8 in 10 people had seen a traditional or religious healer before reaching psychiatric care. Some send a relative to a camp or centre without the person’s consent.

International treatment standards say drug treatment shouldn’t be forced, and that beatings, chaining and withholding food should never be used. The National Mental Health Act 2021 bans chains, shackles and ropes, including in faith-based and traditional healing centres. It allows involuntary admission only in narrow circumstances, such as a serious risk of imminent harm, and only at accredited facilities. The NDLEA, best known for enforcement, also has a legal mandate to provide counselling and rehabilitation. Our guide to choosing a rehab centre in Nigeria covers what good treatment looks like.

How it differs from treatment

“Intervention” is the wider word. Treatment is one kind, aimed at someone who already has a problem. Prevention work, such as building coping skills in schools, is also an intervention, for people who aren’t unwell. And a family intervention is the step before treatment: its job is to get the person through the door.

When to get help

If someone is in danger now, from an overdose, severe withdrawal or thoughts of suicide, call 112 (or 767 in Lagos), or Safe Place Nigeria on 0800 800 2000. The full list is on our helplines page. Stopping heavy drinking suddenly can be dangerous, so read how to stop drinking safely first.

If you’re worried about a relative’s drinking, drugs or betting, you can start with sessions for yourself. A licensed therapist on Mytherapist.ng who works with substance use and addiction can help you plan what to say and look after yourself while you do it. If the person is under 18, start with a family doctor or the school counsellor; parents can book family and parenting therapy for themselves.

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