CIP Family & Client Engagement 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: During a family intervention, a sibling becomes hostile and threatens to leave. The interventionist's best immediate response is to:
- Ask the sibling to leave the room permanently
- Acknowledge the sibling's feelings and invite them to stay engaged (Correct answer)
- Pause the intervention and reschedule
- Allow the client to address the sibling directly
Correct answer: Acknowledge the sibling's feelings and invite them to stay engaged
Acknowledging emotions de-escalates hostility while keeping the sibling engaged in the intervention process.
Question 2: Which concept best describes the unconscious family roles (e.g., hero, scapegoat, mascot) that develop in families affected by addiction?
- Family enmeshment
- Adaptive family roles (Correct answer)
- Family systems dysfunction
- Codependency mapping
Correct answer: Adaptive family roles
Adaptive family roles are coping identities members adopt to manage the chaos of a loved one's addiction.
Question 3: A client agrees to enter treatment during the intervention but insists on a 48-hour delay to 'get affairs in order.' The interventionist should:
- Grant the 48-hour delay with a written agreement
- Insist on same-day admission and address practical concerns with family help (Correct answer)
- Allow the delay without conditions
- End the intervention and plan a follow-up
Correct answer: Insist on same-day admission and address practical concerns with family help
Delays significantly increase the risk of the client changing their mind; mobilizing family support to handle practical issues keeps momentum toward same-day admission.
Question 4: When helping family members write their intervention letters, the interventionist should advise them to AVOID:
- Describing specific incidents and their emotional impact
- Including ultimatums and consequences
- Using 'I' statements throughout the letter (Correct answer)
- Mentioning how much they love the person
Correct answer: Using 'I' statements throughout the letter
While 'I' statements are generally good communication, intervention letters are structured differently—they center on specific behaviors and their impact, not just personal feelings.
Question 5: The primary purpose of pre-intervention family meetings is to:
- Build consensus, rehearse the process, and establish unified consequences (Correct answer)
- Allow family members to vent about the client without consequences
- Determine which family member will be the primary speaker
- Collect financial information for treatment costs
Correct answer: Build consensus, rehearse the process, and establish unified consequences
Pre-intervention meetings align the team on approach, rehearse letters, and ensure everyone is prepared to hold their stated consequences.
Question 6: A family member reveals during prep that they have been secretly providing money to the client for drug use. The interventionist should:
- Remove that family member from the intervention team
- Explore this with the family member privately and help them see it as enabling (Correct answer)
- Inform all team members immediately
- Proceed without addressing it to avoid conflict
Correct answer: Explore this with the family member privately and help them see it as enabling
Privately addressing enabling behavior allows the family member to understand it without shame and decide whether to change it before the intervention.
Question 7: In the ARISE intervention model, the defining feature that sets it apart from the Johnson Intervention model is:
- Higher confrontation and element of surprise
- Gradual, invitational approach that includes the person of concern from the first contact (Correct answer)
- Exclusive reliance on written letters
- Requirement that all family members participate simultaneously
Correct answer: Gradual, invitational approach that includes the person of concern from the first contact
ARISE uses an invitational, non-confrontational approach where the person of concern is included early and the process is transparent.
CIP Family & Client Engagement 2
During a family intervention, a sibling becomes hostile and threatens to leave.
The interventionist's best immediate response is to: