Season 22, Episode 18 (Intervention Canada)
Clayton
Age: 35
Location: Lake Cowichan, British Columbia, Canada
Addiction: Heroin
Official Synopsis: Clayton, once a devoted family man, swore he would give his child the love and attention that he himself never received. When Clayton was just ten years old, his father’s gender dysphoria led to a breakdown of the family. Caught in the middle between his warring parents, Clayton turned to drugs and alcohol to escape. Now a full-blown heroin addict, Clayton has lost his right to be a father to his 8-year-old daughter. With nothing left to live for, Clayton’s family is terrified that he will not survive without a successful intervention.
What’s Memorable: The family dynamics in this one are so messed up. Of course there is always more than the story than what we see, but it does seem like Clayton and his mother are deeply angered by Lisa’s transition and haven’t been able to accept it whatsoever to the point of treating her pretty badly. Lisa has a lot anger and resentment too, and I can understand why. It was nice to see them cooperating and on the same page for the Intervention though, I hope that they’re able to continue on that path. The brother who died alone in the woods must have also contributed to the current dysfunction too, that’ll mess a family up. I believe this episode is the only one in Intervention history where the producers administered a Narcan-type drug to revive Clayton during an overdose. So they’re literally saving lives in real time now too.
Interventionist: Jesse! Really love his style.
Date Aired: July 12, 2021 (Aired as Intervention Canada Season 5 Episode 4, on April 22, 2019)
I said it once and I’ll say it again, Jesse is amazing! The calming, smooth way he speaks to people has such an astounding way of getting through to them.
I felt so badly for Clayton and his up-bringing; and his poor brother, sheesh. This episode was a doozy for sure; I had to pause it a few times and wrap my head around what just happened.
As a viewer of nearly every episode since the show began (U.S. version), this intervention stands out for me as one of the most masterful I’ve seen. I know these INTERVENTION CANADA episodes are a few years old, so it seems strange to have interventionist, Jesse Hanson seem like a “discovery,” but his cool-headed, common-sense, gentle guidance is truly impressive. The way he juggled the extremely fraught dynamics of this mortally wounded family was really something to behold. He continues to impress with each newly-released (in the U.S.) episode to date. I couldn’t believe how “on-board” he was able to get everyone. I sure didn’t see a happy ending for this one. Bravo to all, and a sincere “Welcome back to the world!” to Clayton. I hope he continues to embrace his sobriety. This entire family deserves their share of a little bit of peace and happiness!
I wholeheartedly agree about Jesse…he was truly masterful here. He established such a connection that Clayton said that seeing him was like seeing a family member…very touching indeed. On a more personal note this episode was VERY relatable to me…as a kid I lived in a tiny town in Northern Ca and was blissfully ignorant until coming home from school one day and being told that my parents were divorcing because my father was gay. Then just several weeks later I meet the boyfriend and am expected to pretend it’s business as usual. It’s literally like a bomb going off in the family. That said..I don’t think Claytons mom necessarily handled it well but I do think her instincts to protect her children were coming from the right place. I’m really glad this family was able to come together.
I cried when the parents hugged. It just made me hopeful for Clay.
And when Clay said “thank you” at the end. Cried some more.
This was by far for one of the most interesting Interventions as far as family dynamics. Jesse really won me over with this one, I admit his gentle nature got on nerves the first few times I’ve seen him, but WOW he handled this amazingly. The nut that is the Lisa-Debbie-kids being stuck in the middle was a hard one to crack and he did it!
It made me so happy to see that he stayed clean. I hope we get an update that he’s still doing well. I was definitely near tears. I think if they had picked any other Canadian Interventionist it wouldn’t have been as successful if at all.
When he was hugging Avery, and she was comforting him, it was one of the most real, sweet and loving moments I have evr seen on film.
Dizzy please remove this comment as it’s bigoted and offensive.
I’m only partway through this episode, but Lisa’s part of this is breaking my heart. For her kids to keep misgendering her, and not being able to accept her, even though she struggled in silence for them, that’s so hard.
I am so hopeful for Clayton. His story is so close to home, and good grief Jesse is amazing. Life is short. Make the best of it.
Inexcusable to refer to Lisa as “Clayton’s Dad” and the ongoing misgendering of her throughout the show leaves me disappointed and angry. This show should be better and set a proper example to demonstrate basic affirmation.
Came here to say this. I REALLY hope that the language used was somehow at Lisa’s request (a stretch, I know, but…ugh) and not the result of laziness or transphobia.
Legitimate question: is referring to Lisa as Clayton’s Dad inappropriate? I totally agree that Lisa should be referred to by her name and preferred pronouns. I just didn’t know that she should also be called Clayton’s Mom now instead of Clayton’s Dad. Perhaps she refers to herself as Clayton’s Dad? I’m not trying to be offensive. Just genuinely trying to understand the appropriate name for Lisa’s relationship with her son. Regardless though, she should be recognized for the woman she is, trans or not.
It’s not necessarily inappropriate. One of my close friends’ dad is a woman. Her refers to her as his dad, but acknowledges her as the woman she is.
It would have been more appropriate to refer to her as Clayton’s parent.
i can second Lena here, i know someone whose mother is FTM and while he’s accepting, he still refers to him as “Mom”.
I completely agree.. referring to Lisa as “Him” and “It” made me angry!!
First episode I’ve seen in a while that I had to stop watching and come back to at a later date. The referring to Lisa as “he/him” and AT ONE POINT “IT” IS INEXCUSABLE. Left a bad taste in my mouth for Lisa’s whole family. They try to use the excuse of “oh well this was in this time period way back when and-” shut up, you’re admitting that you know better NOW and you’re refusing to do better NOW just because she was brave enough to come out at a time where trans women weren’t as visible as they are now. This shit drives me up a wall.
On another note, massive kudos to the production crew for handling that OD like absolute bosses. That had to have been terrifying.
I couldn’t even finish this episode it made me so angry.
I definitely don’t think the mother acted appropriately, but I also can’t imagine my entire life being flipped upside down after many years of marriage and kids. She had no control over any of that. As a mother and a wife, I can’t imagine what she went through. I have compassion for both of them.
This episode was so frustrating for me. The treatment Lisa received was just unconscionable to me. We’ve had no shortage of truly awful parents depicted on this show who rightfully deserved the blame for how their children turned out and received less vilification. As traumatic as it must have been for Clayton, blaming that for his childhood being cold and unloving really glosses over the larger dynamics that could more accurately account for it. And where was the accountability for Clayton’s mother? More than two decades later and she was still allowing her anger at Lisa to take priority over loving her son, even after they had already lost one child.
Here’s a really good detailed article about how Clayton‘s cousins and Rodney‘s friend found the body of Clayton’s brother Rodney in the forest. They were able to have his mom meet them up there before they took the body away so she could stroke his head. He was found in a fetal position. This was really a sad story and my heart breaks for the family ❤️🙏🏼❤️
https://www.cowichanvalleycitizen.com/news/family-makes-pilgrimage-after-missing-mans-body-found/
The lack of accountability on behalf of the user in this episode really bugs me. He blames his father for getting charged with assault. How bout not assaulting people if you don’t want to get charged with assault? Sheesh.
Is this him?
https://www.lakecowichangazette.com/news/bc-drug-trafficker-clayton-eheler-given-7-year-sentence-4349862
I’m pretty sure this isn’t him. It doesn’t match any of the names of his siblings or parents.
It’s horrible the dad deceptively went into a marriage as a trans and of course his actions greatly effected the kids. The mom was hurt, lied to and deceived. She became vicious towards him sadly with the kids stuck in the middle. Thankfully they all came together to save Clayton.. Very tough to watch especially the dynamic between the father and Clayton. His daughter coming in after he said yes to therapy like a little angel was one of the most touching moments of this show.