About South Florida Intervention: Addiction Interventionist in Boca Raton, FL and South Florida
The Interventionist Who Has Been on Both Sides of the Table
In 2004, I reached the point of losing everything, including my wife and our two-year-old daughter. I had become hopelessly addicted to prescription drugs and drank every night to come down from being high. I was a hundred pounds overweight from compulsive binge eating. I was fired from my job as a commercial real estate broker for underperformance and absenteeism. My car was repossessed in the middle of the night. My emotional state was a constant hum of depression and hopelessness.
By the time I was admitted to rehab, my wife had spent two exhausting years trying to fix me. Our marriage had been all but destroyed by my choices. She had consulted a divorce attorney and given up on our relationship. It was my daughter’s second birthday when she finally had enough.
She called my parents and told them about my addiction. On the advice of a family friend who understood the disease, my parents gave me a choice: go to treatment, or face the consequences of my behavior alone.
I accepted treatment because there was nothing left to protect. I knew that if I stayed on that path, I would not see my daughter’s third birthday. I would die of an overdose or end the misery myself.
When I arrived at the Betty Ford Center, I had no conception of a life without drugs and alcohol. The idea that I could be restored to my former happiness felt impossible. In rehab, I felt the pain of my emotions without the ability to numb them, and also the relief of surrendering the charade of a double life. My first year of sobriety forced me to find new solutions to old problems. Alcoholics Anonymous and Overeaters Anonymous gave me the support I needed to stay sober and get well.
By the time I celebrated my first year sober, my life bore little resemblance to the one I had twelve months earlier. I was seventy-five pounds lighter. My family was still mine. And I was happy.
From Recovery to This Work
For years after treatment, I stayed in commercial real estate. It paid well and I was good at it, but it had stopped meaning anything to me. In 2014, a decade into my own recovery, I founded Capitol Intervention in Washington, D.C. and began doing the work I was built for: helping families reach the person they were losing.
In 2015, I earned the designation of Certified Intervention Professional (CIP). I have served on the national boards of Active Minds and CrisisLink and I am trained in crisis and suicide prevention. I wrote How To Do An Intervention: A Step-by-Step Guide for Parents so that any family, anywhere, would have the tools to act. In 2018, my family and I relocated to Boca Raton, where I founded South Florida Intervention.
Today I lead interventions for families in South Florida, New York, and nationwide. Every case is different, but the phone call that starts them is the same: someone who loves an addicted person and has run out of ideas. I remember being on the other side of that intervention. It is why families trust me in the room, and it is why the person in crisis listens.
Credentials and Experience
- Certified Intervention Professional (CIP), 2015
- Founder, Capitol Intervention (2014) and South Florida Intervention (2018)
- National board service: Active Minds and CrisisLink
- Trained in crisis and suicide prevention
- Author, How To Do An Intervention: A Step-by-Step Guide for Parents
- National business development representative, J. Flowers Health Institute
- In continuous recovery since November 2004
Before this work, I spent sixteen years in commercial real estate in Washington, D.C. That career taught me how to manage complex, high-stakes situations with a lot of moving parts, which turns out to be a fair description of an intervention.
Hear more of my story and my approach in this conversation with Dr. James Flowers:
The Team Behind the Work
No family’s crisis is solved by one person. South Florida Intervention works as a coordinated team, so that the parents, the spouse, and the person in crisis each have the right professional in their corner.
Julie Silard Kantor
Personal and Professional Life Coach
Julie Silard Kantor coaches individuals in early recovery and the people who love them, helping clients rebuild confidence, resilience, and purpose when life is being put back together. Her approach blends neuroscience, positive psychology, and practical mentorship, delivered through one-on-one coaching and structured programs.
As the creator of The CouplesEsteem™ Course, Julie leads couples through a six-week guided journey to restore curiosity, respect, and emotional intimacy, work that matters deeply for marriages strained by addiction and recovery.
Julie has trained more than 12,000 people in leadership and mentoring, earned recognition from The White House for her work in entrepreneurship education, and has been featured in Forbes, CNN.com, and The Washington Post. Like Marc, she has served on the National Board of Active Minds, working to reduce mental health stigma. Julie and Marc live in Boca Raton, and together they guide families from fear and frustration toward hope, connection, and healing.
Kelly Densmore
Parent Coach
Kelly began her career as a parent coach in 2011 and has since helped hundreds of mothers and fathers navigate the emotional roller coaster of having a child in treatment or active addiction.
Watching her own son struggle to get sober gave Kelly the experience and empathy it takes to support parents going through the same thing. Her work centers on teaching parents to set and keep healthy boundaries, make informed decisions, and end the cycle of codependency and enabling.
Kelly has worked closely with community stakeholders and political leaders to educate the public about the realities of addiction and recovery.
Dani La Barrie, LCSW, QS, CAP
Licensed Psychotherapist
Dani La Barrie brings more than fifteen years of clinical experience across substance abuse, dual diagnosis, codependency, and the emotional terrain families navigate during recovery. She earned her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Social Work from Florida International University and has spent her career in South Florida’s treatment landscape: as a mental health therapist in Broward County’s Department of Juvenile Justice, a school-based therapist in the Florida Keys, an in-home family therapist working with at-risk youth, and a clinical director of substance abuse treatment programs.
As the founder of Affinity Care, Dani works in close collaboration with South Florida Intervention, equipping clients and family members with proven tools to manage intense emotions, set clear boundaries, and rebuild their sense of self during recovery.
David Mahler, CARC, CFAA
Recovery Coach and Companion
David Mahler is a board certified addiction recovery coach who works one-on-one with clients in early sobriety and stands beside families as they adjust to life after a crisis. In recovery himself, he knows firsthand what the first months of change ask of a person, and what steady, judgment-free support can make possible.
As a recovery companion, David provides day-to-day accountability, safe transport to and from treatment, and a calm presence during the moments when commitment is tested. His work is grounded in trust, honesty, and the belief that no one should have to rebuild alone.
A Message From Marc
If someone you love is struggling with addiction or a mental health crisis, you do not have to figure this out alone. I have sat where you are sitting, and I have sat where your loved one is sitting. Call me and tell me what is happening. The conversation is confidential, and it costs nothing to have it.