A Guest Blog From Kristina Wandzilak

Gail Davis, 24 August 2012

Intervention is a calling.  Great interventionists are not created through studies and training but rather from within.  Intervention is the art of connecting instantly with addicted individuals, in a way that allows them to come forward and open themselves to the opportunity to change.  This is a skill that cannot be taught, it is innate.  Intervention is far more than my work. Intervention is my calling and it has been an extraordinary way to spend half my life.

 
“Addicted” has been a life changing experience.  For this addict from the streets, jumping in front of a camera, feeling vulnerable and afraid to expose my work, my life and my heart, swallowing hard, standing face forward, feeling the fear and jumping anyway, has left me with a new sense of courage.  I don’t pay attention to the cameras anymore.  They truly fade away as soon as I am in front of the addict and their family.  “Addicted” might be a TV show, but the work is real, the families and the stories are real, and that is what matters most to me.  “Addicted” might win awards and go onto seasons 3, 4, 5 or maybe even 6, but what matters the most are the families, the work and the recovery.  I am proud of “Addicted” and I am proud of the sixteen very brave families who have trusted me enough to allow their stories to be told.  Long after the cameras and crew are gone, after edits are complete, and after the excitement and press around “Addicted” is over, I will still be here practicing intervention, working with addicts and their families and waging the war against addiction.

I am humbled every time I see myself on TV. Honestly, I don’t see it as my ‘success’ but a shared success with recovering addicts everywhere. Nineteen years ago I was hopeless as a person could be, my life was small, dark and purposeless.  If I can come back from addiction, anyone can. I hope to be an example to all addicts and their families, and show that we can and do find recovery.  Sobriety is possible, change does happen; redemption and freedom are possible.

Sober and Shameless,
KW

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