Eating Disorder and Mental Health Interventions: What Every Substance Use Interventionist Needs to Know

Matt Brown • 2026-08-09

Most of us came up through substance use work. Our models, our language, our leverage strategies, and our referral networks were built around alcohol and drugs. But the phone doesn't ring that cleanly anymore. Families are calling about a daughter with anorexia, a son in a psychotic spiral, a spouse whose depression has become life-threatening. An eating disorder intervention is not a substance use intervention with different vocabulary — it is a different clinical event that demands different preparation. This article walks through what changes, what stays the same, and where the ethical lines sit when interventionists step into mental health and eating disorder cases.