Abusive and Careless Drinking, an Enabling Spouse, and Motivation for Beneficial Change and Successful Alcoholism Treatment

It took many years but Emily at long last decided that she had it with her husband’s unhealthy drinking. She was worn-out from seeing Barry come home late at night from drinking instead of spending much needed time with her and their two sons. She was also worn-out from the second DUI Barry recently received. In addition she was exhausted from manufacturing justifications for her spouse when he couldn’t make it to work on a regular basis due to his problems with drinking. In a similar manner she was concerned about the fact that their relationship was crumbling due to Barry’s careless and excessive drinking. And finally she was tired of the unstable financial quandary into which he had placed his family because of his negative drinking behavior.

When Irresponsible and Abusive Drinking Motivates a Person to do Something Affirmative About a Person’s Problem Drinking

One Thursday afternoon when Emily was reflecting on what she could do about her husband’s unhealthy and abusive drinking, she got to the point that she honestly had to do something positive to cut into the destructive cycle of Barry’s excessive and abusive drinking behavior.

So she looked on the Internet under “alcohol rehab” and found numerous treatment facilities that were all located less than ten miles away from where she and Barry lived.

Since she didn’t know a lot about these treatment clinics, she at long last made up her mind to call some of them and ask a few questions. When she called each rehab facility she introduced herself and stated that Barry, her spouse, was manifesting negative drinking behavior. She also said that Barry, her husband, had a quality health insurance program at work and that outpatient or residential alcohol rehabilitation would be covered if a physician in the company health plan suggested the treatment.

At one treatment center, Emily was surprised that she was able to communicate directly with a psychologist who asked her to come to the treatment facility to describe her husband’s abusive and careless drinking behavior in much more detail.

Emily Talks to a Therapist About Her Husband’s Excessive and Abusive Drinking

When Emily got to the rehabilitation facility, she filled out some forms and then promptly got to see a counselor.

After listening to Emily describe her husband’s hazardous and excessive drinking, the psychologist in a helpful but firm way explained to Emily how she more likely than not contributed to her husband’s hazardous and excessive drinking through the months and the years by justifying his behavior instead of allowing him to experience the consequences of his careless and hazardous drinking behavior.

Emily Discovers She Has Been Enabling Her Husband’s Abusive and Hazardous Drinking

Stated differently, the therapist told Emily that she may have been accidentally enabling Barry’s careless and excessive drinking behavior. The counselor also underscored the fact that while Emily would not be able to control Barry’s conduct, with the encouragement and support of the treatment team at the treatment facility she would not only be able to learn how to avoid contributing to Barry’s harmful drinking but she could also learn how to motivate him to make an appointment at the rehab facility so that he could talk about his hazardous and careless drinking behavior with a healthcare practitioner.

Fortunately after Emily explained this to her husband, and he saw that she was not joking, Barry told her that he had been quite upset with his careless and excessive drinking behavior and that he was somewhat relieved to realize that Emily wanted to do something productive about his harmful drinking behavior. As a consequence, he made an appointment to see a psychologist at the local alcohol rehab facility.

Barry Agrees to Meet With a Healthcare Professional About His Careless and Hazardous Drinking

While simply calling a treatment clinic does not ensure that a person’s abusive drinking behavior will end or that one’s warning signs of alcoholism or the alcohol abuse signs one displays will simply vanish, scheduling an appointment is undeniably an essential component in the rehabilitation process. And because Barry was serious about getting professional assistance for his hazardous drinking, the likelihood of a successful recovery was greatly increased.