When Irresponsible and Abusive Drinking Inspires a Person to do Something Affirmative About a Person’s Drinking Problem
One Wednesday evening when Emily was pondering what she could do about her husband’s hazardous and excessive drinking, she got to the point that she simply had to do something positive to cut into the negative cycle of Barry’s unhealthy and abusive drinking behavior.
So she looked in the yellow pages under “alcohol treatment” and found quite a few rehab centers that were all located less than 20 miles away from where she and her husband resided.
Since she didn’t know a great deal about these treatment clinics, she finally made up her mind that she needed to call some of them and ask some pertinent questions. When she called each rehab center she identified who she was and articulated that her husband was engaging in abusive and hazardous drinking behavior. She also said that Barry, her husband, had a comprehensive health insurance program at his place of employment and that residential or outpatient alcohol dependency rehabilitation would be covered if a doctor in the company health plan recommended the treatment.
At one treatment center, Emily was pleasantly surprised that she was able to communicate directly with a healthcare practitioner who asked her to come to the rehab center to discuss her husband’s careless and hazardous drinking behavior in much greater detail.
Emily Talks to a Psychologist About Her Husband’s Hazardous Drinking
When Emily arrived at the treatment facility, she filled out some necessary paperwork and then almost immediately got to see a psychologist.
After listening to Emily talk about her husband’s abusive and unhealthy drinking, the healthcare professional in a helpful but resolute way told Emily how she may have played a major part in her spouse’s abusive and excessive drinking through the years by justifying his behavior rather than letting him experience the results of his excessive and unhealthy drinking behavior.
Emily Learns That She Has Been Enabling Her Husband’s Abusive and Excessive Drinking
Stated more forcefully, the doctor stated to Emily that she may have been unintentionally enabling Barry’s abusive and hazardous drinking behavior. The counselor also emphasized the fact that even though Emily could not control Barry’s conduct, with the encouragement and support of the treatment team at the rehab facility she would not only be able to learn how to abstain from contributing to Barry’s careless and abusive drinking but she would also be able to learn how to encourage him to make an appointment at the rehab facility so that he could discuss his unhealthy and excessive drinking behavior with a therapist.
The good news was that after Emily mentioned this to her husband, and he saw that she meant business, Barry told her that he had been very worried about his unhealthy and abusive drinking behavior and that he was somewhat thankful to hear that Emily wanted to do something constructive about his hazardous and careless drinking behavior. As a result, he scheduled an appointment to see a doctor at the local alcohol rehabilitation facility.
Barry Agrees to Meet With a Doctor About His Abusive and Excessive Drinking
While simply calling a rehabilitation clinic does not ensure that a person’s abusive and unhealthy drinking behavior will become a non-issue or that one’s warning signs of alcoholism or the alcohol abuse signs one manifests will simply go away, calling for an appointment is certainly a compulsory component in the treatment process. And due to the fact that Barry was serious about getting help for his excessive and unhealthy drinking, the likelihood of a successful recovery was greatly increased.
