What if you do not have to wait for someone you love to hit bottom? On The Stand With Meg Show, I sit down with Michael Loverde, owner and clinical director of Family First Intervention. He holds a Master of Science in Addiction Studies and Counseling, and he is a Certified Intervention Professional. For 21 years he has helped families with substance use and mental health problems. Mike says families do not have to wait for a loved one to want help. He says they already want relief. That is why they are using, and why some are acting out. What decides the next step is the environment. If the cost of staying the same is smaller than what the person is getting from the life, nothing moves. He walks through a first phone call the way he actually does it. Where does the person live. Are they working. Where do they go after treatment. Who else in the family is carrying a role. Then he asks the question he wants parents to sit with. What are you getting out of the help that keeps them stuck. The book he just released is S.A.F.E. Self-Awareness Family Education. He calls it the intervention model his team uses. One piece of it is the horse, the fence, and the water. You may not be able to push the horse's head down. You can build a fence tall enough and strong enough, leave the water there, and let survival do the rest. He says that takes patience and boundaries, and a change in how the family talks. He also talks about labels. A boy was in and out of hospitals, painting on the walls, and he says nobody asked what the boy was painting. He tells a story from his own childhood about behavior that got him a label before anyone asked what he was afraid of at home. His point is to ask the question before the prescription. We talk about relatives who still will not let someone back in, even after years of change. Mike says he will not order them to open the door. He wants to know what the wall is doing for them. Parents also tell me they are afraid to report harm because they fear losing their children in family court. That is what families report to me. It is not a court finding. Mike says his team does not litigate those cases. He says if children are in the home and help is refused, his team will make a mandated report. IN THIS CONVERSATION • Why he says "they have to want it" keeps families stuck • The environment, and what he asks on the first call • Enabling, and the reward a family can get from staying needed • The horse, the fence, and the water • Why he says a job, a new person, or a DUI is not a plan • Labels, the boy painting on the walls, and asking what a child is afraid of • Relatives who will not let someone back in • What parents tell me about reporting harm and family court • His book, his website, and his webinars ABOUT THE GUEST Michael Loverde is the owner and clinical director of Family First Intervention. Say Michael once, then Mike. He works with adults, 18 and up. He says most of the calls he gets are about people in their thirties and forties. He says his program spends most of its time with the family, and then stays with the family after treatment, when there is a release of information. This conversation is general education. It is not a therapy session, a diagnosis, or a promise that an intervention will work. MIKE'S WEBSITE Family First Intervention https://family-intervention.com/ GET MIKE'S BOOK S.A.F.E. Self-Awareness Family Education: Intervention Program and Family Recovery https://link.amazon/B0gBVz2jm This is an Amazon affiliate link. Stand With Meg may earn from a qualifying purchase. FOLLOW MIKE AND FAMILY FIRST INTERVENTION Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mike.familyfirstintervention/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/familyfirst.intervention/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Family-intervention TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mike.familyfirst X: https://x.com/ffintervention Stand With Meg: https://www.standwithmeg.com/ Family Rights Survey: https://my.standwithmeg.com/survey Sign up for his webinars on his website. He said the signup sends a notice when the next one is coming, and that people can ask questions at the end without their name or face on screen. If this conversation sounds like your family, send it to the person who is tired of waiting. If you have experience with family court, take and share the Family Rights Survey. CONTENT NOTE This episode includes addiction, childhood trauma, sexual abuse, self-harm, family court, incarceration, and a family's grief after a death. Mike is sharing what he has seen in his work and what he teaches. What I say about family court is what families report. It is not a court finding. Nothing in this episode is medical, therapeutic, or legal advice. Host: Meg Guest: Michael Loverde Show: The Stand With Meg Show Support the show Thank you for listening to The Stand With Meg Show — Defending Parents’ Rights. Protecting Children. Giving a Voice to the Voiceless. Join the movement at StandWithMeg.com . Follow us on all platforms @StandWithMeg for more truth, tools, and action. If this episode spoke to you, share it — because together, we fight for justice.
