Season 22, Episode 16 (Intervention Canada)
Caitlin
Age: 27
Location: Cobourg, Ontario, Canada
Addiction: Crack
Official Synopsis: An adopted child whose parents divorced when she was a teenager, Caitlin hid from her attachment wounds by overachieving in school and sports. Her focus and drive led her to a promising career in nursing, but she would regularly binge drink alcohol on weekends. At 24, she tried crack cocaine at a party and was instantly hooked on the numbing effects it provided. Before long she’d lost her job, blown $60,000 in savings and racked up a substantial criminal record. Later that year, when a close friend overdosed and died, Caitlin’s descent into addiction became unstoppable. Now 26, Caitlin continues to bury her grief with crack cocaine, as her parents and friends attempt to intervene and save her life.
What’s Memorable: How quickly her addiction became full blown once she started, meeting her birth mother at the grocery store, smoking crack in front of her upset parents like it’s no big, her cruel behavior at the intervention. Was anyone else surprised to find out that Maureen was never an addict? I guess I’ve always felt like there was something different about her, not quite at the same level as the other interventionists, but I’m shocked that someone without their own history of addiction (other than co-dependency) would make it that far in the intervention industry. And I have to say, yes Caitlin did go to treatment, but I wonder how much more effective the intervention process would have been in terms of staying sober if Seth or Michael Gonzales had been running the show. I feel like she needed a different approach than what Maureen could offer.
Interventionist: Maureen Brine
Date Aired: July 5, 2021 (Aired as Intervention Canada Season 4 Episode 17, on July 8, 2019)
Any updates on her? Just watched her episode. Sad to see she relapsed but I hate to say I saw it coming.
I’m curious why you saw a relapse coming? Caitlin is definitely a tough one…I feel like she minimized the impact that a lot of things had on her.
I saw it coming as soon as it was revealed that she returned home.
I saw it coming when I saw her downcast eyes and sad face (shot provided by producers, obviously to aid in storytelling) right before they segued to the update screen.
The way she treated her addiction like a funny joke in front of close friends and even family, smoking drugs and blowing them in her parents’ faces (absolutely disgusting, I wouldn’t have blamed her mother for slapping her in the face for that). Her being a former nurse is fitting seeing as many of them are bullies like herself.
I did too. It’s the first thing I said to myself when they were showing Caitlin in treatment – “This girl will never stay clean”. I felt she had too big of an ego, was too obstinate and way to combative to conform to the ideals of recovery. As a matter of fact, I predict the only thing that will stop her from using is death. She’s just too full of herself. For someone to quit, IMO anyway, they have to look in the mirror and make a firm declaration “Hey, I’m doing something wrong, I need to change but I can’t do it on my own, I need some help, and I’m going to listen”. Mark my words – Caitlin will never make that declaration.
i respect what your saying, but so say shell never get clean isnt fair, she does have a chance for sure. i personally think shes just not done and needs more time using and shell come around. she honestly looks like shes still having fun and until it becomes not fun anymore, she is going to continue what shes doing. but i do see a chance, nobody is hopeless.
She may in fact clean her act up. It is possible. I just don’t think she will. And yes you are right it was unfair for me to use the word “never”. Hopefully she does get it together. We will have to wait and see.
Is it just me or is this interventionist the worst of all time? This is two episodes in a row she chased the addict herself when almost every other interventionist picks someone close as the chaser. She’s pretty bad at getting people to say yes quickly.
I agree, at the very least I don’t think she’s very well suited for dealing with combative subjects or runners.
I have really tried to give Maureen the benefit of the doubt but I think this intervention definitely shined a light on her limitations. I think an emotional connection to the interventionist could have made a big difference for Caitlin.
Honestly, I think she just sucks…period.
Seriously well put. Why does she get a free pass to be one when every other interventionist featured on the show were all sober recovering addicts. I honestly thought it was a job requirement for the show’s interventionists to have them have some history of THEIR OWN ADDICTIONS. Once I saw Maureen featured I was legit shocked like, hmm guess not. Personally that’s why I think her approaches are belittling and lack the level of understanding of addiction that any sober recovering addict would have had when dealing with someone in active addiction. I’m also legit SHOCKED that they didn’t assign Andrew Galloway to be the interventionist for this one as he would have understood Caitlin completely and reached her in so many ways that Maureen just isn’t capable of, since crack was his drug of choice as well as Caitlin’s.
Honestly, I’ve thought about drafting a spreadsheet organizing cases by interventionist to compare the outcomes. I have a feeling Maureen’s track record would be illuminating, and not in a good way. For the life of me, I can’t understand why Intervention continues to use her.
Not just you, I was just sitting here thinking, “Where did they find this moron?” Hell, after seeing this episode, I thought, “I don’t even use, but this woman makes me want to smoke crack.” Can’t help but wonder if Caitlin’s biological mother could make a huge difference for Caitlin.
I totally agree. Maureen can be downright combative as soon as the addict walks into the door. Not everyone needs that kind of approach; sometimes I feel like she needs to win, more than she wants to help. It was revealed in this episode (and maybe before that) that she’s never been an addict herself – maybe that’s why she has trouble putting herself into the shoes of an addict. I can’t imagine the emotional turmoil of walking into that BIG REVEAL, especially after several sleepless nights of binge using.
You hit the nail on the head here, imo. She was so focused on giving snide comebacks to Caitlin’s attempts at arguing that the entire situation kept getting escalated when none of that was necessary from the jump. We’ve seen so many other interventionists handle those combative addicts masterfully – either ignoring, de-escalating, or shifting the focus to those famous words we all know as fans of the show, “nothing that comes out of their mouth matters except for ‘I’ll go to treatment.'”
I just saw the one on Clayton last night and the interventionist told the family that if he leaves the intervention, that HE would be the one to go after him; that’s the way it’s done. I was surprised as well because in the episodes I’ve seen over the years the interventionist usually nods to or pre-arranges with a family member to go after them should they get up and leave.
Agreed with Gigi on Maureen. She isn’t all that good as an Interventionist. The one I see coming along nicely is Jesse – maybe he’ll get more airtime. Anyway onto Caitlin. OMG she is terrible. I was getting serious Katie Y vibes on her. I felt so sorry for her adopted Mother who obviously sincerely loves the girl. Caitlin has a bad attitude and is completely full of herself. No regard for anyone on the planet but herself (just like Katie Y). In her brief interview from treatment I said to myself “There is no way this girl stays clean”. Sure enough I was right.
When you say katie y is that the one with older religious parents? Yea, i could never imagine just smoking in front of them like that. Shes obviously seeking attention with it. One thing thst stands out to me in the canadian ones is how nice the family usually is. They put up with a lot, but dont make scenes about others use. I respect that in a way. Its like they have empathy and dont judge ya know? Id kill for some family ñike that.
Canadians are generally just better, more compassionate people I’ve found.
You should take a look at Katie Y’s episode and I believe you will see what I mean. The personas are very similar. Both of them selfish beyond belief – thinking the entire world revolves around them. Not taking a second to consider anyone else. As far as older religious parents for Katie Y no that is not the case. Katie also had a supportive family but her Mother and one of her Sisters have given up on her (understandable given Katie’s 13 rehab failures). However, Katie’s Father and one of her Sisters still stand behind her. Caitlin has two parents that love her very much. So, I suppose there is some similarity there as well.
I think you’re thinking of Katherine from Syracuse
Katherine C is the one with the older parents.
That was Katherine C wit the older religious parents. Katie Y is a totally different episode.
There was another one who was fairly new…she looks like the actress Mercedes Ruehl. She was compassionate and firm. I really liked her, but I’ve only seen her once.
I’m not sure having her ex-party buddies there was much help. It really irked me when her “friend” Michael said, “She became the Debbie-Downer” in regards to her cleaning her act up and going to nursing school. Like, dude, she’s not out partying with ya’ll anymore and is trying to better her life and you think she’s a Debbie-Downer? What a d*bag.
He annoyed me from the minute he first came on and all the way to the end.
It’s nice to know I wasn’t the only one lol
This takes the cake for unabashed use. Smoking in her mother’s car and basically hot boxing her poor mom with those fumes. I hope she gets help and her family does as well.
Also, this episode made me like Maureen a whole lot more. I like when she got tough with her.
Yah I was surprised by that. A huge change from when we first saw her as Meghan’s interventionist and she simply said, “okay, go” when she left the intervention.
Caitlin’s episode is so emotionally draining to watch. Most of the time, I can get through these episodes finding at least something redeeming about the subject—even if it’s just gaining an understanding of the trauma that delivered them into their addiction in the first place. It was so much harder with Caitlin’s episode. Even the loss of her best friend did little to humanize her. She seemed so incredibly volatile and angry at everyone and seemingly without any comprehension of why. I don’t mean to suggest her life was perfect, because even her father said she has a lot of trauma. But it felt like so much was left unsaid in this episode, and as is often said in recovery circles, secrets keep us sick. So I wasn’t surprised that she relapsed. I hope she can turn her life around..
I felt the same way you did watching this episode, it was exhausting to watch her abuse everyone in her presence. Like others here, I did not have a good feeling about her maintaining sobriety, as I believe drug addiction is the tip of the iceberg of her issues. She appears to be struggling with serious physiological mental illness, as well as a variety of personality disorders. It is an overwhelming, tangled mess when you look at it all at once, but with time and dedication she CAN learn to manage one day at a time and live a healthy life. I am sending sincere wishes for the health and happiness of Caitlin and her family.
To be honest, I never liked Maureen. Just something about her made me feel that way. Now I know why. She never was an addict herself which I think speaks volumes when you are dealing with an addict, one on one. Yes, you can know an addict, live with an addict, love an addict, but it really takes an addict to know an addict…imo. I now know why, to me, she just never really fit in with the other interventionists. It makes sense now. I just don’t think she has anything really solid going for her when dealing with addicts especially the hard core, stubborn and run away ones that are usually the case. JMO
I just said the exact same thing in another comment! Having addiction in the family is very different than being an addict yourself. I don’t think Maureen is cut out to be an interventionist – her education and experience should be used in a different part of the field.
A lot of people seem to have this issue. But also love Jesse. If I’m not mistaken he never used either, and I’m not sure he has had any family with addicts either. I’m not sure I’ve disliked her ever time I’ve seen her. And sometimes the interventionists do go after the addict. It very much depends. I don’t always dislike her or like it. But I don’t think it has to do with this specifically.
think how different his would have been with Ken, or jeff?
Ken or Candy would have knocked this one out of the park! I really don’t think Maureen is fit to be an Interventionist, maybe ana Counselor at best.
Candy is ALWAYS the best choice but maybe I’m biased as she is my favorite. I just think she’s equipped to handle almost any addict
Wouldn’t have made any difference. After watching enough of this show you can tall who’ll make it and who won’t. This one shouldn’t have returned home.
this interventionist ha obvously had a lot of facial plastic surgery which makes me wonder about her mindset in terms of facing head on, truth and honesty.
I was disgusted with Caitlin when she took out her crack pipe in the car and blew the smoke in her mother’s face, asking her if she got high over it. I didn’t care for her to begin with but when I saw that, she just made me sick. WTF?
100% agreed. And also you are correct Kitty Katt. Katie Y is from Wilkes Barre, PA. She’s the former Irish dancer. She’s a lot like Caitlin in her selfishness and total disregard of other people. As far as Katherine C, I don’t even know who that is.
Hey Todd, Katherine C is a great episode to watch. It’s mind boggling as the parents are so religious and Katherine does drugs all day long in their house, right in their face. Her parents are extreme enablers as you will see at the end on what happens. Good episode to watch.
https://intervention-directory.com/2017/08/episode-225-katherine-c/
Anyone else think the show made way too little out of how damn violent she clearly can be? Like multiple assault and assault with deadly weapons charge….she’s like bad bad news.
I may have missed it…. Why did her bio mom not participate in the documentary? Her adoptive mom said that she had “washed her hands of her” but did the documentary make any statement about why or when Caitlin and her bio mom were no longer in contact? I would assume it was the addiction.
Yeah she said she doesn’t have a relationship with her birth mom because of “her choices”, that being her addiction
i’m far from having a specific opinion about interventions and how interventionists are supposed to be, but i’m very ”hmmm..” about maureen. very distant and unrelatable, very harsh in the wrong way. since she left for treatment i wasnt hopeful, but i’m wishing her, her family and friends the best.
Came here just to see if anyone was as freaked out by the fleas as I was lol. The fleas all over her feet oh my god, it was SO gross to me, and I understand that feeling since one time my dog got fleas and getting rid of them was a nightmare. UGH. After I watched those scenes I just felt like my skin was crawling for hours lol I don’t want to be mean in case she ever reads this (not your fault fleas were everywhere) but it was SO GROSS haha ah
Lol you’re not alone in that feeling! Wish it was bad enough for her to just drop everything and walk away from that lifestyle.
I grew up with her and I was a good friend I was sure sad to see her get involved with the wrong crow and not being able to help. She had such a bright future and she can still achieve that. She just needs the right support of friends.
My thoughts as I watched the episode:
* Kind of a boring episode
* Fleas?! Yuck!
* A gorgeous young lady!
* I actually liked how she talked back to Maureen.
* Dammit she relapsed, that’s so sad!
* I wish Andrew Galloway had been her interventionist. I think he might have connected better with her.
I 10000% agree especially with that last statement since Andrew Galloway’s drug of choice was also crack when he was in active addiction. Also I think he’s really good at dealing with the resistant addicts who try to leave the intervention, I mean look how well he was able to de-escalate the intervention involving Melissa (another crack addict) who straight up cooked up crack in front of him and still in spite of it showed her genuine empathy and compassion and got her eventually agree to go to treatment. Honestly, I think the real deep down reason he agreed to step out of the intervention to get Brax (Melissa’s SO) was because he was so triggered by the smell and sight of watching is own former drug of choice being cooked up right in front of him that he really needed a reason to leave and have a moment to “play the tape” as it were in order to continue to not put his ongoing sobriety at risk.
Totally agree that Andrew would have been a much better choice. I respect that Maureen has addicts in her family and obviously wants to help people but I just am not a fan of her approach. I think Caitlin would have done better with a male interventionist and Andrew is a great balance of compassion and firmness. I definitely didn’t think Maureen should have risen to take Caitlin’s bait when she was throwing her tantrum, as the leader of the group you have to keep your composure. Another bad choice was running after Caitlin herself instead of having a loved one do it. I know the blonde girl chased her and Caitlin was horrible to her but still think it would have been better than Maureen doing it. Ugh this one was just a mess. I was sad that Caitlin didn’t stay clean because beneath the rough exterior I could see how smart and capable she was.
Does anyone else think she looks super high in the scene with her mom in the kitchen, when her mom is hugging her, after she gets back from rehab?
She could of been. I thought she looked exceptionally uncomfortable with her mother holding her from behind like that and talking to her as if she was a small child. That would have made me uncomfortable too, especially given the complex attachment trauma that she experienced. I could tell in that moment by the look on her face that she would likely relapse. I hope she finds peace.
I thought the same thing and also agree with Rowan. She looked extremely uncomfortable with her mom holding her like that. I was cringing.
This girl is the worst. I actually pray for everyone on this show,I absolutely hate seeing people doing so much better just to go relapse when getting back home. But I had a bad feeling about this girt,her damn ego is so out of control. She’s never going to get better if she doesn’t get a handle on it. She really should have went to sober living, in another city so she could actually work at a life of sobriety. The way she treats her parents absolutely makes me sick. Also I agree with everyone on Maureen, this is a matter of life and death and she really doesn’t understand addiction as she’s never been through it. They should really rethink having her as an interventionist. She definitely doesn’t have what it takes to get through these people, it’s really a shame. I pray she can pull it together, but I don’t think it will happen any time soon. I definitely pray for her parents who are going through this hell. So sad.
I’m not sure why everyone is bagging on Maureen. She did get her to accept and go to treatment. Would have Candy or Ken as the interventionist made her less likely to relapse. I doubt it.
Sending her home instead of to sober living and a new city was a big mistake. Correct me if I wrong but It seems the participants who are most successful stay away from their old stomping grounds.
People are talking about Maureen in general as an interventionist as well. Most of the opinions here are from watching all her other episodes as well as this one. Also, she’s the only interventionist on here who never had an addiction so doesn’t fully understand what it’s like to be an addict. That in itself bothers people too. But, it’s just an opinion that people are giving which we are all entitled to….good or bad.
I agree…Maureen could possibly help families but NOT addicts.
The Maureen bashing is straight goofy. The black lady who also didn’t put up w the BS or coddle them was also declared combative and “worst interventionist ever.” The big popularlity contest with many here is extremely lame & often wildly inaccurate. Physical appearance a common theme w the alleged “bad interventionists.” It’s just so weird seeing such a show turned into a popularity contest, who u like and don’t like and blah blah. They can edit to make anyone look great or evil and the gullibility of avg reality tv viewer would swear that’s eternal truth and “reality.” Does the production company have ulterior motives and motivations to totally misrepresent people and situations, absolutely. I know I sound like a dillhole, but people need to be much more skeptical re reality tv & not so quick to love and hate people based on the emotional manipulations from the 2nd lowest life form on Erf, the reality tv production company. (Close 2nd to politicians) ** ok, rant transmission complete, thank u, drive thru, now get off my fuggin laaaawn!
The other interventionist you mention is named Donna.
Maybe I’m just tired, or maybe this episode is so depressing that I’m looking anywhere for a smile, but I cracked up (no pun intended) when Caitlin asked her mom for help locating her crack pipe… and then her mom actually got up and looked!! And clearly it wasn’t the first time. I don’t think Intervention has ever gotten me to laugh before.
Don’t feel bad MellyBee. There were two occasions where I got hysterical watching Intervention. One of them was Susie and Miriam (Season 12 episode 8). Miriam walks into Susie’s apartment. They sit down and one of them says “Oh what to do, what to do, what to do? And then Susie says “I’m gonna smoke some crack!”. Hahah, first time I saw that I was hysterical. The second time I cracked up was Suzon (Season 11, episode 5). Suzon’s long divorced parents still hate each other and end up fighting at her Intervention. The look on her Mothers face, plus when she says “I won’t mention any names” when she was clearly talking about her X-hubby had me laughing hysterically. So yeah, even though the subject matter is tragic – y0u never know what’s gonna make you laugh. Nothing at all to feel bad about.
I don’t know why but when I watching the episode of Britney/Terry K, it had me cracking up for MINUTES straight when Terry says with like with a straight face “I consider myself to be a Narcotics Superhero”
Pretty significant moment for as that was the first time i’ve ever laughed in MONTHS since the last breakup I had recently the time.
Ok I have to confess…I laughed at Linda’s episode (the woman who said that flower dust causes her hips to dislocate). The family are interviewed talking about the lengths they’ve gone to to “help” Linda and her adorable mother blurts out “we bought het a Jacuzzi!!” It’s a cute moment in an otherwise horrific episode lol
“And I have to say, yes Caitlin did go to treatment, but I wonder how much more effective the intervention process would have been in terms of staying sober if Seth or Michael Gonzales had been running the show. I feel like she needed a different approach than what Maureen could offer.”
MY THOUGHTS EXACTLY. I’m so glad you mentioned this.
The intervention itself was so cringey to watch. A HOT ASS MESS. I don’t mind Maureen as an interventionist but good lord her lack of personal experience with addiction really shone through here. Normally, whenever an addict on the show says they’re adopted I immediately (as a fellow adoptee) jokingly yell “WHERE’S CANDY” but in this case?! Totally warranted. I really disliked Caitlin as a person but I could not blame her one bit for back-sassing Maureen the way she did. As soon as she accepted the treatment I was thinking “there’s no way she’s staying clean” and I was right. Her hollow updates after the detox and after the treatment…ugh. I don’t even know what the answer could be in her case. She herself came off as so massively entitled and shameless but then again, she lived with a mom that literally helped her look for her crack pipe and had a friend who described her as a “debbie downer” when she was actually doing well for herself! It’s a mess. The whole thing is a mess.
What a depressing episode. I hope she can get to the actual roots of her behavior and seek treatment again. It’s never too late.
Maureen strikes (as in baseball) again! Lord, why do they keep her on?
Caitlin, I relate to you more than you know, girl. You’re not alone and I’m struggling with addiction in Ontario as well and we are around the same age. I think it was incredibly brave of you to share your story because people all over the world including me are out here suffering with the same issues and you shone a big light on it all. Sending you love and support from Toronto. X0
Honestly mad props to the camera crew that didn’t run out with the mention of fleas because yuck! It’s so hard when the family of origin really unknown. Who knows what her experience was in the womb. She definitely has BPD and just doesn’t care about anything. The violence is not uncommon for crack/cocaine users. Sometimes, unfortunately, people are too far into their addiction and need greater than a year of treatment and she is one of those. Then she goes back to family, who doesn’t challenge her. I hope she finds peace.
She’s very beautiful and I don’t think its helped her much. Drug dealers prey on attractive women.
She went back to an environment that was full of temptation, and where she was enthralled in addiction. I wasn’t surprised either. It’s unfortunate!
did she pass away I went looking for her and can’t find her , she’s beautiful and I relate to her story so much. I hope she’s OK.
I related to her a lot. she called everything brutal and unlike what everyone else is saying here she didn’t seem to be having fun to me. imagine being high af on crack and covered in fleas worst nightmare
Man, Canadians love crack. And denim head to toe. As a swerve molecule, coke is a terrible long term drug. Misery. W tolerance, high lasts 5 4-5 min. Not condoning heavy drugs, but if moderation and productivity aren’t possible, run the other way. I think 90% of the narratives in rehab Inc and the Johnson model are utter BS. A family friend owns a rehab and the comments on this site often annoy the blind trust in the benevolent motives of rehabs and rehab Inc employees. It’s far more sketch corporate greed thuan people realize. Re intervention show, the Canadian version seems honest re relapse & outcomes, the American version couldn’t be more full of shite re outcomes.
“Mom where’s my crack pipe?” “Well I dunno honey, did u look under the bed? Closet? Close yer eyes and imagine yerself the last place u had yer crack pipe. Can u see it? Oh honey, don’t worry we’ll find it.” Paraphrased for dramatic purposes, the correct response was “Argo .”
I really couldn’t believe her mom got up and helped her look. the enabling was exceptional in this episode