A Study of Treatment Outcomes: Learning to Let Go of the Results

Introduction

Lawyer Assistance Program staff and Peer Volunteers provide assistance for a wide range of personal, health and mental illness issues facing lawyers, judges and law students. The work can be as demanding and difficult as it is rewarding and hopeful.

One of the key concepts for everyone involved in this work is to learn to let go of the results. What do we mean by this? In approaching personal, mental health and addiction issues, we bring our own skills to bear in addition to our own experience, strength and hope. We do our very best. We often judge ourselves and our efforts by the results experienced by the troubled individual. We can fall into the habit of judging our own work as successful or unsuccessful, depending upon the ultimate success or outcome of each case.

For example, LAP staff and Peer Volunteers may be involved with an intervention on a lawyer who has serious problems with alcohol. When the lawyer chooses not to go in for rehabilitation treatment, we can make the mistake of saying that the intervention was not a success.

Intervention Goals

An intervention is a focused meeting with someone who is experiencing serious personal difficulties. The meeting brings together one or more business associates, family members and perhaps friends, together with a trained interventionist. Such an intervention would have three goals:

• Sharing information about the troubled individual in an open, concerned, and caring manner.
• Sharing information while showing concern, care and commitment.
• The troubled individual agrees to accept assistance and/or seek treatment.

Participants should note that success in any one of these 3 areas means the intervention was successful. Often, the most powerful aspect of an intervention can be goal of sharing information. Often, the information they hear from each other is new and startling and opens their mind to the true extent of the problem suffered by the troubled individual. Just because the troubled individual does not agree to go into treatment, does not mean that the intervention was a failure.

In approaching an intervention, participants should communicate their concern, care and commitment with three key statements directed at the troubled individual:

• “I love you and I care about you.”
• “I am afraid for your health and for your safety because of your conduct/illness.”
• “I want you to get help, assistance and treatment.”

Sometimes a Lot, Sometimes a Little

There are times when attempts to assist troubled individuals will involve lengthy amounts of time and effort with little benefit. There are other times when a simple telephone call provides information about much needed resources, with truly miraculous results.

Why do some people agree to seek help, and other don't? Why do some people stay sober, and others relapse? Why do some of faithfully comply with their medication schedule, and others don't? Why do some of the troubled individuals relate to us personally, and others don't? Who knows!

The point to be made is that we are not in charge of the results. We can only do our best using the skills we have. By behaving in a decent, humble and respectful manner, and by remembering to maintain appropriate, adequate and ethical boundaries, the only result for which we should take responsibility is in ourselves.