Buyer Be Aware - Advertisements for Intervention Training need to be carefully considered – revisited!

A couple of weeks ago I blogged about the fact that we see these offers for Interventionist Training all the time and I have become quite concerned that we are not telling our public that the training is a very small part of the overall picture with regard to the requirements to become a CIP. So if you are tempted think about all of the requirements not just the training.

Some of these offers say “If you are interested in becoming certified as an interventionist (CIP), this training will provide 25 CE hours approved by the Pennsylvania Certification Board.  This is one piece of the requirement for certification”!

And in the next breath they will mention what it will cost you to participate in the training in some sunny location – be prepared to open your wallet and let go of somewhere between $ 1500 and $ 2500 plus travel and hotel for the privilege of putting the training hours in the bank. For what a certificate?

So now we hear about the of a NCIP credential (Nationally Certified Intervention Professional)? I know there is a CIP currently issued by Pennsylvania Addiction Board, which is most widely accepted credential right now for the intervention field.  It even is recognized nationally! Remember AIS worked with the Pennsylvania Board over a long time to come up with a certification. I am very involved in interventions and interventionists and know nothing about this new deal. Remember when something seems too good to be true it usually is

I looked at the website to see what the run down would be on qualifications. I knew if this was a national accreditation that the qualifications were going to be exacting. I was wrong. What I read was that “If you have ‘the gift’ to help people get into rehab or detox and turn their lives around, this career as a Nationally Certified Interventionist is for you. You are probably in recovery yourself and have a true desire to help people by using your intervention training skills.”

That's all that is written on qualifications.....really?

So Bob Reid who is a nationally known interventionist and very well respected and I were talking with some other interventionists about this whole training issue and Bob wrote something which really got my attention.  I believe it should be reproduced as it so germane.

Bob said in essence that any masters level therapist with a 1,000 hours of experience is just getting started and should know enough that 16 hours of training is not at all enough to train anyone to become an interventionist...after 25 years and over a 1,000 successful interventions( maybe 10 to 15,000 intervention hours) his experience tells him in most cases people should NOT be doing interventions till they have their masters, and 5 to 10 years Post masters experience...treating addiction, mental health, couples, families, codependency, personality disorders, eating disorders, schizophrenia, paranoia, and clients that are suicidal and even intervening when someone is homicidal...which I have had to do more than once. To effectively & safely do interventions people need to be properly trained, have a lot of clinical experience and work closely with a supervisor...interventions are clearly a matter of life or death and all of their relationships are on the line even with the best of us, they can go belly up and it's an awful feeling, dangerous and extremely difficult for families...it's like thinking one can watch or take a 16 hour course and go to perform heart surgery on someone!!

The NCIP training sounds good for someone who has already worked in the field for years, has done their own work, if in recovery is working a program,  has a lot of experience clinically with carrying their own case load, crisis interventions, running groups for years and family therapy...I also know that there are some "old timers" who don't have their masters, are well trained and have 10 to 20 years counseling experience as a CASAC, do well with interventions and have the kind of personality that helps people feel safe, and engages well with others...

I know the idea of further certification is a good thing...however it sounds like such training is really a far cry from what is needed and just misleading others that becoming an interventionist is a weekend thing and/or they are people just trying to make money the fast way. It’s just like someone with 3 years of sobriety who wants to become an interventionist and make money but has no clinical experience or training. We have a responsibility to protect families, individuals NOT seeking help (that is why we intervene) and to protect this field.....an intervention done by an improperly trained or inexperienced person can do much more damage than good... It is possible to avert disasters through careful planning, and that usually takes several days with a family. But the purpose of an intervention isn’t just to get someone to a treatment center—it is the first step to getting someone well. This is why the intervention needs more than a shiny training certificate. The Interventionist needs to know that they have the ability to cause no harm and to do a difficult job carefully, compassionately and flexibly and to always have a backup plan. To be this it takes clinical background and experience and is not for the faint of heart.

We recently did some blind shopper inquiries with an entity who advertises such a certificate. We said that someone was reporting that they took this intervention training and are now an NCIP. We asked what certification this was and what organization is issuing this? We were told that this certification is similar to CCAR or Intervention 911. That they certify 200 per year and they meet all the requirements of the CIP in Pennsylvania and ISE in California with the CAADAC and that the classes are done via webinar or virtual? Then the final claim was that the certification is achieved via CEU’s via NAADAC. This certainly looks like the Interventionist “light” certificate unless someone can convince me otherwise.

To remind you the real CIP demands a certain amount of experience and is contingent upon the level of education and must be specific to the domains.  The domains are: Pre‐Intervention, Intervention, Post Intervention and Professional & Ethical Responsibility. Supervised work experience is defined as providing direct addiction intervention and related services 50% of the time.  All experience must be documented and supervised.  Applicants must document participation in three interventions and facilitation of two interventions within the last three years for a total of five interventions.  The amount of education required is contingent upon the level of education (see below).  Six hours must be in professional ethics and responsibility.  Education must be specifically related to the knowledge and skills necessary to perform the tasks within the domains.  Education is defined as formal, structured instruction in the form of workshops, seminars, institutes, in‐services, college/university credit courses and distance learning.  All education must be documented.  There is no time limit on when education was received.  Education provided to other professionals is also acceptable.  A relevant three credit college course is equal to 45 hours.   The amount of supervision required is contingent upon the level of education (see below).  A minimum of ten hours in each domain is required.  Supervision must be documented and may occur as part of eligible work experience and may be completed under more than one supervisor.  Supervision is the administrative and evaluative process of monitoring, assessing, and enhancing professional’s performance.  Supervisors must hold a license or certification in the behavioral health field.  

As I said in my initial blog offering, Buyer beware!